This week on BootsnAll Indie Travel Challenge they are discussing budget. My life drastically changed four years ago and one of these changes was getting rid of public television, it can save someone up to over $100 a month depending on the service you subscribe to but what about your time? How much is that worth to you? Imagine, rather then spending your time on something that will (most likely) not come back to you, what if you spent it with your family? cooking? reading? chores, living healthier, getting to know your neighbors better?
What about all the lost potential that your TV is taking from you without you ever even noticing it?
I have a TV but I don’t get any channels on it and only watch movies. It started somewhat as an experiment to see what my life would be like without spending so much time watching public television and has since turned out to be an interesting & permanent change in my life.
The single largest difference that I have noticed, is in conversation with family, friends and co-workers when they discuss the latest show or story they saw on TV. I simply respond that I don’t have TV and don’t know what they are talking about, I get some shocked reactions and a few that ask what its like or state that they themselves could never live without TV.
Flashback to Heather in 2008. I was even more over weight and wasn’t in the best of spirits. I would go to work like everyone else but at the end of the day I would usually pick up food on my way home, change into pajamas and remain in front of my television the rest of the night then go to bed and repeat day after day. I wouldn’t make plans during my favorite TV shows, I seldom enjoyed anything that wasn't television. I was living vicariously through the characters on the screen. It wasn’t healthy and I wasn’t happy.
Four years later I can say that not having television has impacted my life so much that I don’t even notice it anymore. I would never want TV in my house again, mostly because I know I’ve been addicted to it previously but also because I don’t know where I would find the time to watch it, even if I did have it.
When I watch it now at others houses, waiting rooms ect. it upsets me how media so deeply influences our daily lives, watching commercials while they can be humorous it sickens me to think how bombarded most people are with unnecessary 'things'. No wonder we always want more, we are completely surrounded with brand new products and inventions that there is no way we can keep up, we're already set up for failure. It makes me wish more people would try getting rid of television even just for a certain amount of time, just to open their eyes and see what it does for them.
I will admit TV has some truly amazing and positive effects, but for me those benefits have not out weighed the negativity it brings into my life.
Comments