Wednesday, January 7, 2009
New Year, New TV, New Numbness
One of the coolest things about the new year is that TV shows return with full season to air through May. This includes my 2 favorites on TV now, Lost and 24. Jess is also glued to the return of American Idol which starts next Tuesday. It is an exciting time for fans of these shows and others that are starting back up. But why are we excited? Is it because of the full entertainment value that these shows offer? Possibly. Is it because we have been without good TV for so long? Maybe. Is it because it is a way for us to escape our daily pressures and stress? Probably. My thought is that it is probably a mixture of the three. I know that when I watch Lost, it is for entertainment value and also involves me figuring out a puzzle that I enjoy. But when I watch pretty much anything on E!, it is just numbing the pain of life. TV has provided the world with a way to ignore and numb whatever we don't want to deal with. Sure, there are other vices that do the exact same thing and pretty much anything done in excess takes on this characteristic. But TV is so prevalent in our lives and we don't even realize how much it affects us. So in this new year, I am going to try to not avoid the silence, push into the pain, and turn off the TV some. Sure I will continue to watch my favorite TV shows, but in the times when I just have the TV on because I am bored or because I don't want to think about things are the times when I will hopefully turn the TV off. December may roll around and I may not have been as good at this as I had hoped but if you don't try, you won't know. So I invite you to join me in this experiment and see what happens. Who knows, maybe the silence and pain turns out to be Love all along.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Aaron, I am so excited about this for you. When we were first married and when my kids were little. I was so addicted to tv. I could not wait to escape every night to that. I would even get upset if someone needed me during that time. Needless to say, life got hard and diving in no longer did it for me. I began reading during that time and spending time with God. It was amazing how much better I felt, how renewed I became, and how my relationships really improved (with God, Jack, and my kids). To sum it up, "me time" just doesn't do it and it never will. It only cries out for more. You can never get enough. Turn it off, pray through it, and feel it. I'll pray for you.
I used to be glued to TV as well. Now with Rebecca here, I could care less if I get to watch eve my favorite shows. I say this as we are sitting on the couch watching TV while it is raining/sleeting outside. :) :) Now I play with Rebecca, catch up on my time with God, and then work on keeping my house picked up and clean. I am with you this year!!
Post a Comment