A recent analysis has shown that in America the average citizen watches four hours of television a day. Since that’s the median, there are many that watch much more than that. This observation is a telling example of how the media and technology, as beneficial as much of it is, has also shoved society down a cliff of laziness, lack of creativity, and an attachment to banal subject matter that has no bearing on a realized life. Being stuck in front of a digital screen that feeds you everything from voyeuristic views of other people’s personal lives to idiotic news shows revolving around celebrity clothing and dating issues has turned people into passive herd member that waste their days involved in nonsense.
For anyone seeking an Illuminated life, you have no choice but to unplug the set until moderation is possible. You have to realize that what the mainstream media wants to do is make you a slave to its ideas, politics, fashion protocols, and preferences. Television convinces you that living your life vicariously through the famous while neglecting your own endeavors is entirely fine. It can expose your insecurities, giving reason to why you should dole out your limited income for the next thing that makes you feel relevant in society. Even music, so broad scoped and diverse, is confined only to what genres are profitable, inundating you with it until you only listen to what is “in” at the moment, securing their wealth. Have you heard of Andreas Vollenweider? How about Sigur Ros, Greg Maroney, Secret Garden, or Bliss? If not, it’s because these independent artists are outside the wealth machine generated in the pop culture of contemporary television.
Removing yourself from the controlling and limiting aspects of the media, for many, will automatically affect your daily activities in a positive way. You’ll find yourself (depending on the depth of prior television immersion) with a significant surplus of time to devote to more progressive actions. This is where structure must often be implemented. You should fill that time with enriching material which will accelerate your detoxification and recovery from the opiate of television. Adventure out, read enlightening books, start projects, rediscover your artistic endeavors, etc.
Below are some stellar ideas to help while adjusting to a TV-less life. They are digital items, yes, but are bridges to experiences that aren’t:
- Alltrails: An app with trail guides for over 50k plus locations. This app will provide you places to hike at all levels and in even some of the most obscure areas.
- Verbling: A website with very inexpensive tutors dedicated to teaching you a new language in the most efficient and economical manner possible.
- Meetup: A website dedicated to bringing people together that share the same interests. There are groups covering vast arrays of topics that get you out and involved.
- Spotify: A digital music service that exposes you to an enormous range of musical talent from all genres and cultures.
- Goodreads: A book review site that aggregates their material in a way that makes it easy for you to find great material, read reviews by others, and provide your own. You just put in your preferred genres or past enjoyed titles and it gives you recommendations based on your input.
Cable television is not some innocuous entertainment device that has no impact on your life. It isn’t just a passive form of entertainment. It is a precursor to a life unlived and one of the many hypnotic devices that are present in modern society that keeps you confined and unable to develop into a more enriched, spiritually attentive, and authentic individual. If you can’t yet justify a reason to break free then consider at least beginning with a stricter form of moderation. Adhere to a couple favorite shows, remove all the clutter in between, and see how much more time you’ve been allotted. Stay away from drama baiting material, celebrity nonsense, and fear mongering media information. Starting there can go a long way toward weaning yourself from TV and moving toward more life-enriching activities.
For those of you with children, endless programs and material that isn’t contributing to your child’s growth only blunts their creativity and progress. Limit their time to a particular window so they can also build, read, explore, and spend time with friends away from digital intervention. Minds unsullied by constant digital stimuli are able to think of creative means to pass their time, resulting in children that are more gregarious, resourceful, imaginative, and social. When a parent stops letting the television babysit their children and gives them a more open means to flourish, it will only add to a more positive familial atmosphere.
Another thing to note is the cost of television. People pay upwards of $200 and more for the luxury of having hundreds of channels. They just sit there when bored, clicking through the choices as the clock ticks by. If you lose your television entirely, that money can go toward a new activity, gym membership, group class, or hiking gear. It can be sent to a philanthropic campaign seeking to help handicapped children or placed in savings toward a trip. The point is that television is not a tool for the Awakened and will only exacerbate human gluttony and desire. If you find moderation and want to keep it for a couple enjoyable programs, that’s entirely understandable, but does that come at a monthly expense that warrants it? If not, perhaps even those programs can be found online, allowing you to remove cable while also getting to watch them.
In summary, cable television gets in the way of family integration, dulls the senses, robs us of time used for enriching purposes, and manipulates people into following debilitating trends and belief systems. Movies and a couple programs are thoroughly enjoyable in moderation and this article is NOT about abstinence. To integrate digital media and television in a way that is healthy can, without question, contribute to our intellect, creativity, and knowledge. It should be used as a tool; not a means for filling gaps and augmenting debilitating behavior.
