Don't Think We're Missing Much

I have been using Thursdays to select an older blog post from the same month (but a different year) to inspire me to either edit and update content of something I thought was particularly good OR use that content to write a bit more than was there initially.

This time around, I found one of our oldest posts on this blog and thought I'd start by putting a portion of it here and then continuing on the topic afterward:

--- From March 10, 2009----

Last summer, our satellite TV stopped working and we just decided to have it taken down. We don't pick anything up with the antenna -so there you go.

At this point, we can tell you that we do not regret this decision.

Of course, we turned the tv on while in a hotel room when we traveled. And what did we see? Nothing that looked horribly different from when we saw it last. Lots of channels with nothing truly interesting to see. The news was still being reported with urgency (and repetition) by multiple channels - always with the assumption that yesterday's news is old news (even if you hadn't already heard).  Lots of commercials that were either irritating, misleading, annoying, or all three. And, the stupid thing was still as mesmerizing as ever. I think it has something to do with the belief that surely something was coming up that would make the moments spent watching it worthwhile. The good news - we found it much easier to turn off.

Don't get me wrong - we do like some shows and movies. But, since we dropped satellite we have:

• spent more time playing board and card games together
• watched more movies we really wanted to see in the theater or at home (with no commercial interruptions)
• turned over the 'to do' list more rapidly (yes R is a list maker - first on list - make list)
• read more books

Besides, I'd like to avoid the situation of being asked about what I've done in my life and have to answer - "Well, I didn't do much, but I DID see this cool thing on tv....." 

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My how things have changed and how they have stayed the same.  The barn is not as photogenic as it was back in 2009, but what's on the television still has us asking questions.

We have managed to take some advantage of "air tv" with a small rabbit ear antenna that we added a few years ago.  We still like to have access to public television once in a while and we are always hopeful, but usually disappointed, that there will be a baseball game we can view.  In fact, if I recall, we got the antenna to watch the World Series.  

By the way, if you live in Iowa, you live in a black-out area for the Twins, White Sox, Brewers, Cubs, Cardinals and Royals - so even if you pay for satellite or some other access, you aren't guaranteed to get to see any of the "local" teams.  It's irritating, but it is also beside the point.

The point is that we fully realize that the tv is often a brain babysitter.  And, we also understand that there are times that we need one of those.  But, I also believe tv and electronic media can be one of the more addictive drugs out there.  It's hard to get up and walk away once you let yourself sink into a comfy chair when you are already tired form whatever your day has brought you.

On the other hand, Tammy and I STILL love playing board games together.  And, we STILL prefer to select a DVD and watch that (without the commercials!) if we want to watch something.

It's part of the realization that when we make a choice of what we are going to do or what we are going to see - rather than just letting it happen to us - we live a bit more and a bit better.  It's why Rob makes his own music playlists rather than letting a streaming service do it.  Just a little more investment brings me a little more joy.

Perhaps that is why people struggle sometimes?  They aren't giving themselves the opportunity to invest a little of themselves into the things they enjoy - so the "joy" part of "enjoy" isn't prominent enough?  

I suppose this doesn't fit everyone.  But, it fits us most of the time.

Have a great day all and add the "joy" back into "enjoy" for yourselves!