Reflecting On Our Year Without Television
Only one week to go and we’ll have gone a year without television. Well, not a very strict year: we still caught a few movies on DVD, and I did sneak a few World Cup games at my in-laws in the summer. And then there’s our Sunday afternoon dinners at my parents, where the NFL is always on…
But all in all, we pretty much went without it. Apparently, if I’m an average television watcher, that means:
1) I saved approximately 11oo hours of my life. But I know I spent about 200 extra hours on the internet, and another 250 or so blogging. And another 100 reading blogs, something I didn’t do before giving up television. So the net gain was about 550 hours.
2) I lived a safer life. Falling flatscreens kill, you know.
3) I should have lost some weight. Obesity has been proven to be directly proportional to the hours of television someone watches. In fact, I am hovering at approximately the same weight as at the end of 2009.
4) I missed out on the Lost finale, fifteen Survivor finales, 727 Italian dives during the World Cup, and a host of other reality shows too ridiculous to mention.
5) I have no idea what ended up happening to poor Conan, or whether or not Paula Abdul still hosts American Idol.
Lots of folks have been asking, What now? Are you going to watch television in 2011?
I am.
Maile’s not convinced. But I’m definitely roping her into my trek through all 17 seasons of Lost, starting the night of January 1st. That is, if Bryan is still willing to let me borrow them.
So help me ease my way back into the world of the boob tube: what television events or programs will you be sure not to miss in 2011?
“No TV For One Year” Update
So there are a few reasons I don’t blog much anymore about our “No TV For One Year” experiment:
1 – it turned into a “No TV For One Year In Our House Experiment,” since I kind of ended up watching most of the World Cup (we were at my in-laws) and occasionally watch some football (at my parent’s house on Sunday afternoons).
2 – I don’t think about it very much. It seemed like this huge sacrifice in the beginning of the year, but once I got into the habit of not sitting down to watch it in the evenings, I just got into the habit of doing other, much more practical things (like playing on-line poker or catching up on all the blogs I follow on Google Reader)
3 – Of all the things I envisioned getting accomplished once I killed the TV (things like reading more books, writing more, playing more games with the family), the only one that has really happened has been “getting to bed earlier.”
I’ve come to the conclusion that, while giving things up is not a bad thing, it’s just as important to make sure you are deliberate about finding things that will fill the void. Otherwise, one time-wasting activity simply takes the place of another.
What am I most looking forward to about watching TV in 2011? Sports. Only three years until the next World Cup. And borrowing Bryan Allain’s complete collection of Lost and watching it from beginning to end, continually reminding him via blog and twitter that I get to experience it for the first time.
Oh, yeah, and Jersey Shore. Can’t wait for that.
Since I’ve been out of the TV loop for a year, what should I be sure not to miss in 2011?
Option #3: Break My Brother-in-Law’s TV
This is a re-post from earlier in the year, when we had just started our no-tv-for-a-year experiment.
First of all, happy birthday to my brother-in-law Ben, who turned 35 on Saturday. He runs a first class tennis academy right here in Lancaster County, so if you are interested in tennis you’ve got to look him up at Ben Halvorsen Tennis.
Anyway . . . the reason I bring him up, and the fact that he is getting really, really old, is that we went to his birthday party last night. We were hanging out in the kitchen, and at some point someone went into the living room and turned on the television to watch the Vikings/Saints game.
INTERESTING TELEVISION DILEMMA #1 – so this is the first time this has happened, but I’d imagine that it won’t be the last: we go to someone’s house to hang out and (gasp!) a tv set suddenly turns on. What to do? I ask you . . . WHAT TO DO!?!
Option one – watch television, breaking the fast but realizing the whole point of the thing is to become more involved in life, not less involved (I would consider hanging out alone in an empty kitchen being less involved in life, vs. going into the room where the tv is on and people are cheering and arguing and having fun)
Option two – go into the room where the television is but don’t watch the television, either by sitting where it is not visible or by wearing some sort of blindfold or sophisticated blinder device
Option three – break the television (accidentally on purpose) since our obviously subversive goal is to rid the world of the idiot box
Option four – find something even more fun, like Twister, and do that in the kitchen so that everyone wants to hang out with the cool, we’re-not-watching-tv-and-we’re-so-much-better-than-you couple.
Option five – just go with the flow
Okay, so I chose option five. And since enough people stayed in the kitchen to keep conversation interesting and fun, that’s where I stayed. And, yet again, in some small way I feel like my life was a bit better because of this decision not to watch television. Not I-won-the-lottery better, or I’ve-just-had-another-child better, but slightly better. For example, the few times I peeked into the living room, the folks watching television weren’t jumping around and giving each other high fives but were mostly just staring at the television like zombies. There was some polite conversation, but it was mostly along the lines of:
“So what do you think of that Brett Favre?” (still staring at the tv)
“Huh.”
“Good quarterback. Indecisive.”
“Yeah.”
“Good sausage bites, eh?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s up with that Saints emblem?”
“I think it’s a floor-d-something.”
“Cool.”
“Yeah.”
In the kitchen I was catching up with people I hadn’t seen for years and talking, actually talking and not just letting sounds escape from my mouth. So that was fun, more fun than watching television, which is what I would have done if this happened a month ago.
Have a great Monday. INTERESTING TELEVISION CHALLENGE: Sometime tonight, when you’re about to turn on the television just stop and think for a moment – isn’t there something else you’d rather be doing?
Another Letter to my Television
Dear TV
I can’t believe it’s been six months since we broke up. So I saw you the other day. And I have to admit: you were looking good. I guess all the rumors I heard about you are true, the stuff people are saying about how you’re losing weight, working out, looking better in HD. All that stuff.
I know we’ve been hanging out, but I don’t want you to get your hopes up. The truth of the matter is, I’m using you for the World Cup. And now that England and the US are out, I think I’m moving on. That’s it. There’s no chance of anything long-term. I’m sorry to say it like this, over email, but you’d have to find out at some point, and I thought it best you find out from me and not someone else.
I know my kids are still into you, and that’s cool. I don’t expect them to take the same view of you as I; after all, you’ve only ever really shown them cartoons and a few harmless Disney videos. And sometimes when people split up it takes the kids longer to separate.
I still wish you’d stop hanging out over at my parents, but I’m learning how to deal with that. And I wish you’d stop lobbying for more of my time – I’m pretty content now watching the occasional movie on DVD or playing Wii. That’s all it’s going to be, at least until January 1st, 2011 when I break out the box set of “Lost.”
Then we will have a lot of catching up to do.
Sincerely
Me
Confessions of a Distraction Addict
I’m guest posting today over at Brett Harrison’s blog. He’s got a cool story, so even if two blog posts by me in one day is more than you can handle, follow my link at the bottom of the page (it will be there as soon as I have it) and at least read about him and his wife and their current adventures. I begged him to let me post there, and he said I could as long as it was about missionaries, so I decided to ask if missionaries these days have to leave their keyboards. Head on over and join in the discussion.
In the mean time, here’s my post for the day.
I emailed back and forth this week with a guy I’ve met in blogworld. His name is Josiah Bancroft, and he’s a poet. It’s kind of cool, this whole thing of meeting people that ten years ago I may never have met.
Anyway in our email exchange he brought up the fact that my family and I have forsaken television for a year, and then he made a comment that got my attention:
“As an aside, I quit watching TV years ago, though there have been lapses. I found that the problem wasn’t the programming itself, but the thoughtlessness that resulted from sitting in front of the endless stream of shows and ads. That constant state of distraction is both depressing and addictive, I think…I find that watching (online or through Netflix) fewer shows less often and without commercials actually inspires me to work and write.”
Are we addicted to distraction? I know I am. I now use distraction as a motivational tool:
“Work for 15 more minutes and then you can get on Twitter.”
“Write three more pages and then you can check Facebook.”
“Write your blog post and then you can check email.”
When I found out the Wifi was not working in the cafe I had settled into for the day, I got out of there faster than Superman exiting a kryptonite factory. Why? I don’t need Wifi or the winternets to do 90% of my work, but the thought of going stretches of time without distraction freaked me out.
What’s your take on distraction as addiction?
Now, for my guest post over at Brett’s site, click HERE
