Television
- To Watch or Not to Watch
In the News: Play It Again, Mom (Again and Again . . .) July 20, 2003
For all kinds of reasons, I virtually saw no t.v. for 8 months. It was out of my house, out of my life. Wonderful things started to flow into the time I had previously wasted watching t.v. and I started to figure how much time I had wasted and what I could have accomplished in that time. Do it yourself, even if you are young. Make a chart. How many hours a day do you watch t.v? How many hours is that in a year? What could you have accomplished if you hadn't watch t.v. for the past 5 years, 10 years, 15 years? What can you accomplish if you don't watch t.v. in the next 5, 10, 15 years? How many instruments can you learn, how many languages can become familiar, how many songs to sing, things to build, relationships to deepen. How many books could you read on exactly the things that interest you? How much poetry could enhance your life. How much could you have run, swum, walked, enjoyed nature?
And what did sitting, slouching, lying down while watching t.v. do for your body? Not "for", but against. How many orthopedic and circulatory problems can be prevented by a much more controlled approach to sitting in front of the box and it's accompanying devices.
Think about it. If we were created to try to be, like God, initiators, how does sitting in front of the t.v. advance us in our mission here on earth? Watching too much t.v. doesn't bring us closer to any ideal of freedom and initiative. It makes us all into automatons. It promotes our passivity. It lets the muscles of our bodies and our minds weaken from disuse. When we watch t.v. we are controlled by whatever "Madison Avenue" has control of our respective part of the world.
T.V. should be enjoyed like a glass of wine. Relaxing (sometimes), but not the basis of our lives.
After an 8-month sanctuary in my quiet home, the powers that be made me an offer I couldn't resist. So t.v. is back in my home, but differently now. Have you ever thought of taking an eductional vacation from t.v. It's a respite that may change your life, and the lives of your children.
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