Don't actually...
Recently, a very dear friend of mine and I were catching up for the first time in months. I was really surprised, and pleased, when she told me that she regularly reads this blog.
Another thing she told me really stuck. She was having a conversation with another friend, (who, apparently reads this blog too – hi Kat), discussing the things I do – i.e. I play the cello (admittedly, not very well…), blog, make jewellery, work full-time, have a happy and fulfilling relationship… etc. Kat apparently commented – “where does she find the time”?
I don’t watch TV, that’s how. Now, this is both a fact and a gross over-simplification. I have a great job with short hours (I work 1pm to 7:30pm most days – longer on Fridays). I have a supportive partner who loves to geek it up on his computer as much as I do, and we spend many companionable hours side-by-side in our study, while I work online or on my jewellery, enjoying what I call our “social-anti-social-time”. I don’t go out a lot, but I do have a good – albeit small – circle of friends in the ‘real’ world.
But I very rarely watch TV. There are times when I am sucked into the pit of TV-watching, and when periods like that happen, I get very little done. When I actually take the time to reflect on what I want to achieve, and what really brings me joy, rather than oblivion, it’s an easy choice to get up and turn off the box.
I’m not the only one to make this decision. Check out Turn Off Your TV for much more anti-TV rantings.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate TV – I just realise that it can easily turn into a distracting habit which keeps me from the things I really want to do. All things in moderation, as they say!
So, what about you and your family? How much TV do you watch, and do you ever think it’s too much?
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Yep, I agree… I moved in with my OH 3 years ago and he didn’t have a TV… best thing ever having no TV. You get much more time to do things and oh boy do you see how much people are controlled by the media etc when you haven’t got a TV and they will argue until they are blue in the fact that they aren’t but they ARE!
People do however seem to think you’re some kind of freak if you don’t have one or don’t watch it but I find most of them simply do nothing else and wouldn’t know what to do with themselves if they didn’t have the brain liquefier sitting in the corner 24/7.
Sad really :o\
So so true and I am exactly the same- I maybe watch an hour, maybe 2 a week. I do have it on when sanding though to break up the monotony, but I can’t JUST watch TV and nothing else. I managed to do a degree, a HNC and work 2 jobs at the same time and I feel that’s partly down to it (and also a reason why I can’t sit still nowadays either)- that and going out and getting drunk (and poor) and suffering the next morning!
“When I actually take the time to reflect on what I want to achieve, and what really brings me joy, rather than oblivion, it’s an easy choice to get up and turn off the box.”
This rings true for me – well, the point about what brings me joy rather than oblivion. When I am feeling down, I tend to mindlessly surf the web, or play a computer game, instead of doing something more creative. I don’t watch much telly either, I’m similar to pennydog in that I can’t *just* watch television or a film, I need to be doing something else as well.
I also don’t watch TV much, although I used to a lot. It started when I went to uni, and i missed it a lot at first perhaps for the company, although as time went by it became more natural and we did a million other things instead (perhaps on the internet a bit too much, but that’s another thread!). I find that there are some brilliant programmes on tv but the most are just annoying and plain stupid. The joys of BBC iplayer allow me to tune into those shows of interest and helps me enjoy it so much more. I love watching my regulars on there, in my own time and without a new programme following straight on before you have time to make a cuppa.
My parents however watch TV a lot and don’t understand how to turn yourself off from it. As time goes by the difference between me and my parents just get greater….
I agree with you – I never watch TV either!
Even if there is something I would like to watch, say a movie or a good drama on ABC or a good doco on SBS, I end up not watching!
I’m either in my workroom creating or at the computer!
I’m feeling this. Once I uploaded photos of my jewellery to my personal Facebook page when I started out and most were really supportive, then I got one comment saying ‘you have to omuch time on your hands. Where do you find the time’.
I do like TV, but I don’t cabbage infront of it doing nothing else, I can’t.
To be honest in the UK it’s not just TV that’s the problem, it’s the pub. Most people my age are drinking or nursing hangovers whilst I make my stuff!