Hi ho the television's dead

We did it. We killed the satellite cable. The little black box that can suck the living life out of you (literally) is gone. Peter and I packed it into it's little brown box this morning. It will soon be on a bus back to Texas and the dish network place.

I feel more free already. Peter and I are not extensive TV watchers by any means. It wasn't even turned on for days at a time and when it did it was for an hour or so. We liked about 3 shows, would DVR them and watch them when we had extra time. It is on in the evenings that we are home (rarely) after we have done most of the things that need to get done.

But like any disease, it creeps in on you and grows. Even those few hours a week were like wasted moments. Time I couldn't take back and make richer or more meaningful. I had a moment that I realized that I was watching television (even if for one hour) INSTEAD of doing some other things that would have made my life more interesting, engaging. I would turn it on when I clearly had things to do around the house, was 1/2 finished with a good book, when I could have called up a friend and talked about a REAL life scenario.

Instead the TV would be on and I was sucked into a pretend world of people I didn't know while my laundry was dirty, my house needed a vacuum, I hadn't returned a voice-mail from a friend, and there was still daylight in the beautiful Montana sky!

While, it was NEVER a priority for us or something that was put before each other or our friends,iIt was not longer a "fun and innocent tool to have around" anymore but "something that was keeping me from my really great and full life."

I have been in households and seen the people that are constantly watching something, anything, even if they don't like it- just to have the thing on! It seems to me our society has evolved to the point where we need the noise to drown things out.

What are we drowning out? Is it to avoid doing chores, working on something, having silence, avoiding conversation with others in the home, are we bored, is it easier to stare and be passively entertained than to engage or make your own activity, are we not creative enough to fill our time and be productive, are we over stimulated or over worked all day and need a break, are we just a lazier society?

I am sure it is a combination of all. For us, TV is not the end all be all of Evils. Just something we personally don't want anymore in our lives. We still LOVE to have American Idol Night with our friends b/c it is a fun activity that we are doing together... We are talking, laughing, sharing our opinions and ideas ... We are together, engaging with others. That is important to us. We love cuddling up to a good movie on those nights when we are tired and need some alone time.

But, those things can be done without the little black box of horrible reality shows about playboy bunnies, mind blowing violence, pretend celebrities, spoiled heiresses or reality shows that ruin marriages.

With the murder of the Dish, I have been doing a lot of thinking about the ways I want to mindfully enhance my free time and life. I want to really have my house in order... Not be reacting to messes here and there, but get it in a real organized state. I want to do all the little tiny projects that don't cost money but sit there, nagging at me. I want to not have "celebrities" and movie star bodies in front of my face everyday and get back to some realistic expectations of my own body. I want to have a conversation with Peter with NOTHING else in the background, I want to just be outside, piddling in the yard - it's spring - it's beautiful! I want to start our evening walks up again. The ones where we just walk - to no particular place - share about our day and watch the kids (dogs) frolic and sniff everything. I want to never have mounds of laundry in the laundry room. I don't want ANY of my garden veggies to be overripe, forgotten or not tended to this year. I want to purge all other "clutter" and useless things from my life - minimize and get rid of anything that I have not used or needed in this last year. I want to get through a good book in less than 2 months.

I guess these are all goals that I could do even with the black box, but its a good time to profess them and put them out in the Universe... It's Spring... Time to get things done and start FRESH!