It's been a long time since my last post. I must admit, I am still watching tv. But lately I've been turning it off a little more frequently. I'm currently taking some classes, and it's been out of sheer necessity if I'm going to get my work done.
However, for a long time now, I've been watching tv when I should have been studying. I've been telling myself it's a stress reducer, a harmless distraction from homework that I'm avoiding. I also tell myself that I'd avoid the homework whether I was watching tv or not, so I might as well watch the tv. But I don' t know that that's really true. I would probably procrastinate, but not for as long as I can procrastinate while that tv's on.
Tonight I switched off the tv, long before bedtime I might add, and I instantly felt a sense of relief. My body suddenly relaxed, just like that. The television was making me tense. The noise and the stupidity and the flashing lights. All of it was irritating me at a very basic level.
The sense of relief I felt reminded me of why I often speak of quitting tv. And it reminded me that I hadn't posted in quite a while. I tell myself I haven't posted on this, or my other website, or emailed some of my old friends, or started learning Spanish, or picked up the guitar, or written a book, because I don't have enough time. What with my classes and everything. But that's not true. I've made time for oodles of television this past year. Hours and hours that could have been better spent doing something real.
But a girl's got to relax -- I can't be working and being productive for all of my waking hours. That's not healthy either! Right?
Well, that is true. Self improvement shouldn't be done at the risk of our health, mental or otherwise. I'm not talking about a rigorous program of self improvement that accounts for every waking moment, with checklists and agendas and timetables. And I'm not talking about working myself to death out of some Protestant belief that idle hands do the devil's work.
I am all for idleness! Lie around in a hammock, stare out the window at the clouds, watch the grass grow, do a crossword while drinking your coffee for an hour, play with the cat, read gossip magazines, light matches and shake them out, over and over. Whatever. Eventually you'll get bored and then it will be time for the next step -- what to do instead of watching tv.
It's hard, I know. The tv is calling you, and it's so easy. Just sink into the couch and click on your favorite show. Ahhh, all your old friends, getting into some new adventure that you haven't seen before. Boy, that's funny. Oh, so dramatic. That's compelling television! Wow!
Yes, but at what cost? We are talking about your life here! Your precious, miraculous life, dribbling away in spurts, with occasional interruptions for a word from our sponsors. Sweet Jebus, it makes me want to cry.
And it's my life too! My life that's being pissed away! And I'm doing it to myself! Me and millions of others like me! So many people in this world pissing large chunks of their life away every day! It's tragic. Worse than tragic -- I think it is making the world as a whole a much worse place to live in.
I wouldn't say that people are losing their souls to television, but I will say that people put their souls on hold when they watch too much tv. And a soul cannot grow while it is on hold.
A bit melodramatic, I realize this, but I really feel that this is true.
Some people say that they only watch good tv, tv with a message, or educational shows, or only well-crafted programs with good acting and a lot of thought behind them. That's all fine and good, but if it's more than a couple hours a week, they are still stunting their own personal growth by sitting there in front of that tv.
No matter how educational a show is, you shouldn't sacrifice hours of your own precious life watching it.
Life is so very precious, even if it's horrible. People often say they watch tv to escape reality, because reality is so awful a lot of the time. I say look life in the face, and say "You suck, life! But I'm going to spend my time seeing how I can make life better, even if it's in the smallest ways."
And my friends, you can't make your life better by watching tv. It will never happen. Everyone can see the truth in that statement.
Turn off your tv today and ask yourself how you can make your own life better, in some small way, tomorrow.
Good night.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
TV Addicts in the 70s?
I have one more thing to say on the topic of blogs about TV addiction. If you have searched for blogs by people who are addicted to TV, and are trying to quit, you have more likely found a bunch of blogs by people who call themselves TV addicts with pride.
These people say "I am a TV addict!" as if it's a badge of honor, or a cool characteristic about themselves. They think its a quirky feature of their personality.
Can you imagine if someone said "Ha ha ha, I'm addicted to drugs. I can't stop doing drugs, isn't that silly of me?"
Or, "Oh my god, I drank booze for 12 hours this weekend. Can you believe it? I am such a booze hound!"
The thing of it is, television is such a part of our lives now, that people can't remember what it was ever like to not have it around. Many people under 30 can't remember what it was like not to have cable tv, and people under 40 may have always had a VCR in their houses, at least a Betamax, if not VHS.
Before then, we didn't have customized shows, and there were only four to six channels to choose from -- ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and maybe a couple of local stations. Eventually, FOX came along, but only after cable had been established for many years.
So, what did people do then? My gosh, what did they do? Did they spend all their time surfing between those four crappy little channels? Back and forth, back and forth? Did they have a favorite -- "I ONLY watch ABC."
I don't think so. I think they did other things. TV just didn't have the draw it does now. Yes, sure, people watched it, and some of them watched a lot of it, I'm sure. But it just wasn't as, well, as good as it is now. It wasn't as customized, for one thing. These days, if you have cable, you will probably be able to find something to hold your attention. There are movie channels that show nothing but movies, all day long.
In the old days, back in the 70s, or, if you didn't have cable, the 80s too, the only time movies were on TV was on a Friday or Saturday night (I don't really remember), or maybe on a Sunday, if they were showing a Disney movie.
There was no Tivo. You couldn't record a show on tape and keep it on your shelf, so you could watch it over and over, whenever you felt like sitting and doing nothing. You were at the mercy of the network executives, and if you didn't like what was on TV right then, you had nowhere to turn. You just had to turn it off and walk away.
And so that's what people did. They walked away and did other things. They were in bowling leagues. They sat outside and talked to their neighbors. They played cards. They went for walks. They were healthier.
That, my friends, is a fact. Look it up. People were healthier -- they were less obese and had fewer chronic diseases in the 70s, and to a lesser extent, in the 80s. There are many reasons for this, but I think TV, and the changes that have been made in TV since the 70s, are an important contributor.
People got out more, and did more things, instead of watching TV, because back then TV wasn't as compelling. It is now. Not always, not everything, but TV is way slicker and can draw you in faster now. And it's more customized. There are many many channels to choose from, whatever your bag.
Is TV evil? Are you evil for watching it? No, of course not. But are you living when you are watching TV? No. You are sitting and staring. And you are not even meditating. There have been studies of the brainwaves of people while they are watching TV. I don't remember the particulars, but it wasn't reassuring. I will look them up later. Right now I have to go to bed.
These people say "I am a TV addict!" as if it's a badge of honor, or a cool characteristic about themselves. They think its a quirky feature of their personality.
Can you imagine if someone said "Ha ha ha, I'm addicted to drugs. I can't stop doing drugs, isn't that silly of me?"
Or, "Oh my god, I drank booze for 12 hours this weekend. Can you believe it? I am such a booze hound!"
The thing of it is, television is such a part of our lives now, that people can't remember what it was ever like to not have it around. Many people under 30 can't remember what it was like not to have cable tv, and people under 40 may have always had a VCR in their houses, at least a Betamax, if not VHS.
Before then, we didn't have customized shows, and there were only four to six channels to choose from -- ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and maybe a couple of local stations. Eventually, FOX came along, but only after cable had been established for many years.
So, what did people do then? My gosh, what did they do? Did they spend all their time surfing between those four crappy little channels? Back and forth, back and forth? Did they have a favorite -- "I ONLY watch ABC."
I don't think so. I think they did other things. TV just didn't have the draw it does now. Yes, sure, people watched it, and some of them watched a lot of it, I'm sure. But it just wasn't as, well, as good as it is now. It wasn't as customized, for one thing. These days, if you have cable, you will probably be able to find something to hold your attention. There are movie channels that show nothing but movies, all day long.
In the old days, back in the 70s, or, if you didn't have cable, the 80s too, the only time movies were on TV was on a Friday or Saturday night (I don't really remember), or maybe on a Sunday, if they were showing a Disney movie.
There was no Tivo. You couldn't record a show on tape and keep it on your shelf, so you could watch it over and over, whenever you felt like sitting and doing nothing. You were at the mercy of the network executives, and if you didn't like what was on TV right then, you had nowhere to turn. You just had to turn it off and walk away.
And so that's what people did. They walked away and did other things. They were in bowling leagues. They sat outside and talked to their neighbors. They played cards. They went for walks. They were healthier.
That, my friends, is a fact. Look it up. People were healthier -- they were less obese and had fewer chronic diseases in the 70s, and to a lesser extent, in the 80s. There are many reasons for this, but I think TV, and the changes that have been made in TV since the 70s, are an important contributor.
People got out more, and did more things, instead of watching TV, because back then TV wasn't as compelling. It is now. Not always, not everything, but TV is way slicker and can draw you in faster now. And it's more customized. There are many many channels to choose from, whatever your bag.
Is TV evil? Are you evil for watching it? No, of course not. But are you living when you are watching TV? No. You are sitting and staring. And you are not even meditating. There have been studies of the brainwaves of people while they are watching TV. I don't remember the particulars, but it wasn't reassuring. I will look them up later. Right now I have to go to bed.
There's Always Time for a Little TV
Someone has actually read this blog, as evidenced by the 1 comment I received today on my first post. It's funny -- a few months before I started this blog, I was searching through websites looking for anti-television stuff, or just stories of people like me, who were addicted to television, and were trying to do something about it. I hardly found any regular websites about quitting tv, but I found quite a few blogs on the subject.
However, I noticed a pattern with most of these blogs ... the author would make the initial post, with a lot of grand language about why they were fed up with tv, and how they hated themselves for watching it, and they would declare a moratorium on tv, and invite all of us readers along with them on their journey, as they quit tv forever.
Then, they wouldn't make any more posts ... or just a few more, and then stop forever.
This would make me mad. Had they started watching tv again, and were just too ashamed to admit it in their blog? Or, had they become so liberated from quitting tv, that they had leapt off into their new, enriching and exciting lives, forgetting all about us readers?
And now, it would appear, I am one of the former. Well, except that I never declared that I would quit tv. Not yet. But I have been slow to make a second post. I've been busy. (I've been watching tv, but I've also been busy.)
Which brings me to a good point. Why do we make time for tv? Of all the things that we have to do and, more importantly, WANT to do in our lives, why do we feel that we have all this time to watch tv?
Or rather, why do we convince ourselves that we're too tired to do anything else but watch tv? We are smart people -- we have interests, no matter how few, that should trump tv any day. Why do we come home from work or school (or from nowhere at all, if we're unemployed), and plop down in front of the tv, exhausted, and just sit in front of it for hours???
Are we REALLY that tired, SO tired, that we can't possibly do anything else besides sit, motionless, occasionally giggling or making a comment, and stare?
Maybe we, all of us tv addicts, should try this: Next time we find ourselves sitting and staring at the tv (or, even better, BEFORE we have turned on the tv), we should just sit motionless, and stare at nothing. Stare at the wall, stare at the bookshelf, stare at a picture on the wall, stare out the window. Whatever. Just sit and stare and be motionless. See how that feels. That's considered meditating by many people.
But you can consider it sitting and staring, for these purposes. When you get bored with sitting and staring, get up and do something else. Because obviously you are not too tired to do anything but sit and stare.
I will try it too. Let's all try it. We have lives beyond our tvs. Let's start living them.
However, I noticed a pattern with most of these blogs ... the author would make the initial post, with a lot of grand language about why they were fed up with tv, and how they hated themselves for watching it, and they would declare a moratorium on tv, and invite all of us readers along with them on their journey, as they quit tv forever.
Then, they wouldn't make any more posts ... or just a few more, and then stop forever.
This would make me mad. Had they started watching tv again, and were just too ashamed to admit it in their blog? Or, had they become so liberated from quitting tv, that they had leapt off into their new, enriching and exciting lives, forgetting all about us readers?
And now, it would appear, I am one of the former. Well, except that I never declared that I would quit tv. Not yet. But I have been slow to make a second post. I've been busy. (I've been watching tv, but I've also been busy.)
Which brings me to a good point. Why do we make time for tv? Of all the things that we have to do and, more importantly, WANT to do in our lives, why do we feel that we have all this time to watch tv?
Or rather, why do we convince ourselves that we're too tired to do anything else but watch tv? We are smart people -- we have interests, no matter how few, that should trump tv any day. Why do we come home from work or school (or from nowhere at all, if we're unemployed), and plop down in front of the tv, exhausted, and just sit in front of it for hours???
Are we REALLY that tired, SO tired, that we can't possibly do anything else besides sit, motionless, occasionally giggling or making a comment, and stare?
Maybe we, all of us tv addicts, should try this: Next time we find ourselves sitting and staring at the tv (or, even better, BEFORE we have turned on the tv), we should just sit motionless, and stare at nothing. Stare at the wall, stare at the bookshelf, stare at a picture on the wall, stare out the window. Whatever. Just sit and stare and be motionless. See how that feels. That's considered meditating by many people.
But you can consider it sitting and staring, for these purposes. When you get bored with sitting and staring, get up and do something else. Because obviously you are not too tired to do anything but sit and stare.
I will try it too. Let's all try it. We have lives beyond our tvs. Let's start living them.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Why I Started This Blog
Hi, and welcome to the first post of Television Is Eating My Life. I am an admitted tv addict. I often find myself compelled to watch tv. I also use tv to distract myself from my problems, or to kill time when I'm bored. I watch tv every single day.
This has not always been the case. About 8 years ago, I was disgusted by the amount of tv I watched. I'd come home from work, switch it on, and on it would stay until I went to bed. At the time, I was living with my boyfriend, and he worked a late shift. The tv kept me company until he got home at 11:30pm. I had a set schedule of programs I would watch. I kept time by what show was on. I didn't do much else while the tv was on but sit and watch it.
One day it struck me how utterly sick and ludicrous this behavior was, no matter how many ways I tried to rationalize it. So one night I decided that I wouldn't watch any tv at all, no matter how much I wanted to, or how many ways I convinced myself that just a little tv wouldn't hurt. It was extremely difficult! I felt very uncomfortable. I tried various things to entertain myself, but nothing seemed interesting for very long. I even paced the room a bit. But I did make it through that night without watching tv.
After that I tried to cut down, to moderate. My circumstances changed. I moved to another city, and then another city. And then another country. In none of those places did I have cable tv (which helped cut down on temptation). When I lived in another country, I didn't get reception where I lived, but I still watched videos. Not quite as bad, but still a time vacuum. But now I'm back in the US, and I'm living in a place that has cable tv, and I'm hooked again. Once again, I'm disgusted with myself, and disturbed at how much of my life is rendered utterly meaningless by my actions.
I can't believe how uncomfortable it feels to quit tv. I'm an intelligent person. I have a high IQ -- I've qualified to join Mensa. I enjoy reading. I can sit and read a book for a long time. I have friends. I go out with them on a regular basis. I am in decent shape and enjoy physical activity. I live in a temperate climate and am not housebound. I have many options.
There are also a myriad of things I hate about television. I hate the commercials. I hate (most) insipid sitcoms. I hate trashy reality tv. I hate talk shows. I hate game shows. I hate soap operas. I hate slick, sexualized tv news. I really hate cop shows. I hate the vicarious pornoviolence of most forensic detective shows. I hate how the government and the media are such dangerous bedfellows.
And of course, I hate how television eats my life up. Or, I should say, how I let it eat my life up.
Yet, I'm still compelled to watch it. Does this sound familiar to anyone? It sounds like an addiction, doesn't it?
So I feel I must treat it like an addiction. In later chapters of this blog, I will discuss the various aspects of television addiction, and how I am trying to quit. This blog will also serve as a distraction for me, protecting me from the siren's call of that gray void sitting across from me in my living room.
Please feel free to add any comments, even if it is just to say Hi. I'd like to know who is reading this blog.
This has not always been the case. About 8 years ago, I was disgusted by the amount of tv I watched. I'd come home from work, switch it on, and on it would stay until I went to bed. At the time, I was living with my boyfriend, and he worked a late shift. The tv kept me company until he got home at 11:30pm. I had a set schedule of programs I would watch. I kept time by what show was on. I didn't do much else while the tv was on but sit and watch it.
One day it struck me how utterly sick and ludicrous this behavior was, no matter how many ways I tried to rationalize it. So one night I decided that I wouldn't watch any tv at all, no matter how much I wanted to, or how many ways I convinced myself that just a little tv wouldn't hurt. It was extremely difficult! I felt very uncomfortable. I tried various things to entertain myself, but nothing seemed interesting for very long. I even paced the room a bit. But I did make it through that night without watching tv.
After that I tried to cut down, to moderate. My circumstances changed. I moved to another city, and then another city. And then another country. In none of those places did I have cable tv (which helped cut down on temptation). When I lived in another country, I didn't get reception where I lived, but I still watched videos. Not quite as bad, but still a time vacuum. But now I'm back in the US, and I'm living in a place that has cable tv, and I'm hooked again. Once again, I'm disgusted with myself, and disturbed at how much of my life is rendered utterly meaningless by my actions.
I can't believe how uncomfortable it feels to quit tv. I'm an intelligent person. I have a high IQ -- I've qualified to join Mensa. I enjoy reading. I can sit and read a book for a long time. I have friends. I go out with them on a regular basis. I am in decent shape and enjoy physical activity. I live in a temperate climate and am not housebound. I have many options.
There are also a myriad of things I hate about television. I hate the commercials. I hate (most) insipid sitcoms. I hate trashy reality tv. I hate talk shows. I hate game shows. I hate soap operas. I hate slick, sexualized tv news. I really hate cop shows. I hate the vicarious pornoviolence of most forensic detective shows. I hate how the government and the media are such dangerous bedfellows.
And of course, I hate how television eats my life up. Or, I should say, how I let it eat my life up.
Yet, I'm still compelled to watch it. Does this sound familiar to anyone? It sounds like an addiction, doesn't it?
So I feel I must treat it like an addiction. In later chapters of this blog, I will discuss the various aspects of television addiction, and how I am trying to quit. This blog will also serve as a distraction for me, protecting me from the siren's call of that gray void sitting across from me in my living room.
Please feel free to add any comments, even if it is just to say Hi. I'd like to know who is reading this blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)