Watching TV
I’m not saying you have to. But after five years of TV-free living, I’m saying that you can.
It started as an experiment, really. Alan and I were launching a new business. We knew we’d be really busy getting it set up, so when we moved in to the new place, we sold our behemoth TV and didn’t bother getting hooked up to cable.
I thought it would be harder than it was. And maybe it’s because we gave it up when reality TV was on the rise (I hate reality TV) or because we were just so busy, but, honestly? It is so not a big deal. And I used to watch a lot of TV.
The only time I really missed it was at the end of a really busy day, when I’d be physically exhausted, but it was only about 7:30 or so. I didn’t want to go to bed that early, but I was too tired to read. And starting a conversation in that state is usually a bad idea. Then I’d feel restless. Then I would miss TV.
And I think that’s the norm. I remember reading somewhere that the only nation on earth that watches more TV than the US (and I think Canada is very similar on this) is Japan. And the only developed nation that works more hours than the US? That would be Japan. The two go hand in hand. TV lets you stay in that sort of twilight between sleep and wakefulness. It’s not productive and not even all that enjoyable, but somehow it seems better than crapping out and going to bed early.
But then, one night, I did just that. I gave up, I gave in. I went to bed at 8:00 PM. Something I hadn’t done since I was six. Slept like a baby and woke up feeling all refreshed and ready to face the day. I’ve been doing that ever since, actually listening when my body tells me that it needs sleep. People tell me I look relaxed. And younger than my years. I feel good, too.
It’s amazing to me how defensive people are about the television. I try not to evangelize the merits of life without it. But if it comes up in conversation, I’m honest. Some people are open to the idea. But some are so not. I’ve actually been told that I’m wrong not to own one. That I owe it to society to stay current with what’s going on in the world. I thought it was an odd reaction. I’m pretty current on the news, the environment. Although I haven’t seen an episode of Mad Men yet.
I’m not a luddite (no, really!). I love my laptop. Nor am I anti-entertainment. Alan and I watch DVDs from the library on my laptop. But we don’t then sit through whatever happens to be on next. We don’t waste endless time channel-hopping. We have more control over our viewing. Heck, we have more sex!
So, once again, this blog is not about a prescribed lifestyle. But if you’ve wondered what it would be like to live without a TV, or a dryer, or (gasp) a dishwasher, give it a go. You might hate it, or you might be pleasantly surprised. And just a little more free.
We never got cable either, and when the digital transition happened, it turned out we were in a dead zone. So we’ve been without TV since June. And it’s been just fine. We play more. We read more. And yeah, go to bed earlier. That’s definitely a good thing.
And yeah, I get some weird blowback from people too. No one’s ever said I need one to stay current, but people do seem to think that living without one is a really weird thing to do…
It’s really kind of amazing how easy it is to scare people these days…
Hey Barb, great post.
We stopped watching TV about three years ago and haven’t looked back. It’s so easy to keep up with what’s going on in the world on line, and there are so many great choices for entertainment etc – we even stopped listening to the radio as well…and dropped our newspaper subscriptions.
Interestingly, we were at a friends place the other night and they had the TV on. I was fascinated to see the advertisements. It had been so long since I had seen one, I actually found them more interesting than the show.
The other thing that struck me was how loud and how much “spin” is put on mass media in general. It was all a bit hyper, noisy & stressful.
We prefer to calmly select and schedule what we want, when we want it, and pocket the thousands of hours of freed up spare time to exercise our minds and pursue our dreams.
Best, Robin
“… and pocket the thousands of hours of freed up spare time…” What a great thought! Thanks Robin!
We stopped listening to the news when we realised about 50% of it was about violence and mayhem. We were being de-sensitised to acts of hate, and that included violence on the sports field. We now talk and share about books and readings that show people picking up the best in life. We cry some and laugh, but we’re sharing and deciding what we value, not what the mass media thinks we ought to believe or be riveted by. And once-upon-a-time I used to be a reporter!
Thanks Heather! It’s nice to be the one deciding, isn’t it?
I just love this!! I’ve lived almost my entire life without TV. It rocks!! I grew up without one, my dad got rid of it when I was very little and started taking all six of his kids into nature. It changed my whole life! I can’t stand TV. Still don’t have one. Good for YOU!! Yeah.
))
Whooo! Thanks Robin. My parents used to take us out on nature walks, too!
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I too hate reality tv and commercials r my hugest pet peeve. Ur article was somewhat misleading since u admitted to still watching dvds on ur laptop. If not watching real live tv, and commercials and mainstream cable is what u dont do, then we too can relate. Even tho we own a tv, our tivo allows us to only watch what we want at times we want and since i only have an hour between our three kids bedtime and mine, i feel watching tv the way i do is very beneficial to me. I used to be the type who would keep the tv on all day, similar to how ppl leave the radio on, but once my first born, from three months old, would watch anything, even the weather channel, i stopped that and dh and i save the tv for an hour or so before bed. I admit i am not in the know about the world most times but i actually like that. News is all subjective anyway and most times id rather not know whats going on in the world. I read enuf online and in our monthly periodicals to be in the know enuf for me. I totally agree with ur other posts about living minimally is individual, very well said.