Kill Your TV (or at least tame the thing)

(google image)

Television has proved that people will look at
anything rather than each other. 
 –A. Landers

What is being lost is the magic of the word.  I am not an image person.  Imagery belongs to another civilization:  the caveman.  Caveman couldn’t express himself so he put images on walls. 
–Elie Wiesel, 1995

I had a pleasant surprise tonight!  My mom and dad came through town and invited me out for dinner.  They only live about two hours from me but I travel so often that I don’t see them as much as I’d like.  We had some yummy mexican food and Pinkberry (of course) then ran a couple of errands which included (uh oh) purchasing a brand new flat screen for my birthday to replace my old television that broke a while back.  Um…yea.

I’ve been without a television in my apartment for the past few months and I absolutely ::loved:: not having one.  Even when I had a working TV (which was a super old one donated by a dear friend) I would never pay for cable or some fancy upgrades.  I’d decided not to replace the TV for fear that I would resort to watching movies in my spare time instead of reading, creating, talking to friends, blogging, cooking, journaling, etc.  However, I did miss the convenience of watching a movie on a late night or extra lazy afternoon.  My parents asked me a million times if I wanted a replacement TV for my birthday because they knew how much I enjoyed not having the tempation.  So…I decided that I would take them up on their generosity and receive the brand new pretty shiny flat screen which is now staring at me.  Oh gosh. 

You know what else is staring at me?  Eight beautiful books just waiting to be read by yours truly.  I’ve already started five of them and cannot wait to finish.  You may recognize some of the authors: CS Lewis, Shane Claiborne, John Perkins, Anne Lamott, Elizabeth Gilbert, David Sedaris, Eric Schlosser, and Shauna Niequist.  *happy sigh*

All that to say…yes, I now have a brand new TV thanks to the loving kindness of my mom and dad but I am putting the little guy on major lockdown.  When we were small, my parents never let us watch more than 30 minutes of television a day.  Thank goodness for that!!! My imagination was outrageous and I spent every spare minute outside in the woods behind our house or riding my horse.  Hehe.  Yea….it was a perfect world.  I will always be thankful to them for that.  Putting a leash on your TV is a good thing.

And now, because of this, I’ve made some guidelines for me and my new friend. 

1) No watching TV alone.  I don’t want it to be a time waster when I could be doing other things. 

2) When friends are visiting, I will not let it take the place of real life conversation.  I want TV to be my last resort, not the first.

3) No cable or TV stations…ever.

(We Heart It)

So there you have it.  Call me crazy if you like but it’s what I gotta do for me.  This means that instead of finishing The Office DVD, I am choosing to read Eat, Pray, Love instead.  Yep, I’m happy with that. 

Love you, mom and dad!! Thank you for teaching us what is good in the world and that sometimes the best way to find it is turning off the TV.