Goodbye Television

For a while now I’ve wanted to stop watching television. I didn’t watch much the last several years but had streaming channels that offered just enough drivel to keep me hooked into mindless vegetative bingeing on occasion.

Recently I changed wireless service providers and decided it would be a good time to back away from the TV. I have a few movies I kept after giving most as donations…The Bird Cage, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Young Frankenstein….just enough to give a laugh when needed.

After unplugging my Apple TV and staring at a big, black glass rectangle I had a strange reaction….I actually felt withdrawal symptoms. Fortunately I began reading more and found a sample of a book I downloaded a while back. I decided to purchase it as it was quite perfectly timed. The title? The Way Home: Tales from a Life without Technology.

Mark Boyle lives in Ireland and wrote a book about leaving the world of technology. His was an extreme choice. It wasn’t just a screen…it was nearly everything. No indoor plumbing, no electricity…he even opted to leave music behind unless it was live. No email, no computer, no social media. Nothing…except an occasional ferry, ship or train travel and he even walked to get to those.

Reading Mark’s book made me realize stopping the majority of television-watching was really nothing compared to leaving nearly all technology behind. The book is very interesting and didn’t convince me to do it…ever…unless I have to.

The main time I would watch was after working at a part-time retail job that can be rather draining. As an empath, being around so many people is challenging so the TV was a way to numb out after work. Not a great choice but better than some I suppose. I would prefer being outside but with sweltering temperatures I pass on that until later at night.

So the first few days were weird. After a bit of a shock at realizing how much I was addicted to it, I began to feel so much more mental and physical energy. As much as possible I would go outside, even if only for a few minutes, and just breathe with the trees. I found my entire brain function felt different. And there was extra energy to do things I love…writing, playing music. But I also faced the feelings that surfaced when I didn’t numb out watching mindless garbage.

Who knew that watching television, even fluffy, funny stuff, could affect us so much?

I’m not saying I don’t pull out a few movies here and there and allow myself some vegetative time…I think we need time off on occasion. But I don’t turn the thing on every day and I’ve even put it and my home theater system up for sale. I don’t want to take it when I move.

Something that also transpired is I no longer have an internet modem constantly bombarding my home with a wi-fi signal. I have a hotspot I use only when I post on my blog or upload photographs to my photography site or do maintenance on my web page. I wonder if that isn’t making a really positive difference as well.

It’s taken me years to make this choice and its amazing how much better I feel–cleaner energetically, clearer mentally and more aware emotionally.

Next in line….reduce time on social media. And who knows what will follow.