Today I got rid of my television. And no, I am not going to put a "Kill Your Television" bumber sticker on my car.
Before y'all get too excited, just let me mention that I can watch certain TV shows over the internet and movies on the 'puter. So it's not like I've completely left the TV generation.
One of the after-effects from my 3 month vacation was that I place even more value on my free time. I came back with all these things I want to do. Changes I wanted to make. But once I got back, and especially went back to work, I felt like I had no time. Then I thought about how much time I would unintentionally spend in front of the boob tube. You know how it goes. You sit down to have dinner, flip on the black box of mostly mindless entertainment, and before you know it you've lost an hour. Sure, maybe you learned that you can float a sunken sailboat with ping pong balls from the Mythbusters. But really. I decided I'd rather be do other things. Like writing this blog. Reading. Playing music. Running. So I got rid of the distraction. It was too easy to turn on.
Coming back to life-as-I-used-know-it after a 3 month absence has been harder than I expected. I really didn't expect to have a hard time re-adjusting to being home. After all, it's home. Some people I know who have spent time away nod their heads and tell me it will get better. And just in case you were wondering, that's not really all that comforting. But dis-comfort is good. I need to be the change I want to see in the world. So watch out world. Here we go! A boob-tubeless life is just the beginning.
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You know, the TV is strange - it's the only time I know of where your brain entirely stops thinking thoughts for itself. During the time you watch it, you have not a single thought of your own; your brain effectively becomes an input device. The internet, conversation, even reading doesn't do that.
The other side of that coin, though, is that sometimes it's nice to give your brain a holiday. Sometimes I actually do just want to sit down and veg out and see something go on before my eyes. Plus, it's kind of interesting that you can float a boat using ping-pong balls :) My point, though, is that I watch TV more or less opportunistically - I rarely devote enough time for a whole show, so I wouldn't download and watch something: I want something immediate and without committment.
On a completely different subject, it's kind of nice to know that you're having reverse culture-shock too. I spent over a week waking up in my bed and being utterly disoriented and not knowing where I was. Strangely, I went camping this past weekend and never once felt that waking up in my tent. All this probably means something about my psychology.
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