Something struck me recently as I was flipping through a newspaper (honestly, it was USA Today, so it barely counts as a newspaper). But the second or third section of the paper was called the "Life" or "Lifestyle" section - I don't remember which. I never gave this much thought before, but the section had quite a bit of celebrity news - celebrity gossip, lifestyles of the rich and famous, etc. (By the way, from now on I am getting all my news from The Onion and The Daily Show.)
What does that have to do with "life"? The most likely answer to that question - the one that crept into my head - was disturbing. It is possible that we, collectively, have mistaken celebrity gossip with real living. Have our lives moved away from reality and into a dream state where we actually care what is going on with Brittany Spears or Paris Hilton or Michael Vick? It is truly disturbing to think we turn to this section of the newspaper to find information about life.
I have noticed a corollary trend. About a year ago, I canceled cable television and stopped watching the grotesque amount of TV I was used to. Instead, I turned to my family and to books to entertain myself. When I share this with people, especially young people, I often get the response, "That must really suck, Mr. Huffman!" or the even more telling statement, "You must not have a life."
Why would it be presumed that I was bored by the choices I made? I guess I can see why people who never read would find reading boring. But that I choose to spend time with my family, why would anyone assume that was boring? It has been my experience that people's level of boredom is inversely related to the quality of their imagination. Or, as my brother puts it, "Only the boring are bored."
We need to turn off our televisions, take the ear buds out of our ears and walk away from the internet. And then we must begin to reconnect with people in our lives. Starting with ourselves. I think we should all spend at least a little time alone with our thoughts everyday, meditating on what "life" really is. Then, as we discover it, we should share it with the people around us. From what I can tell, too many people (advertisers, TV network executives, USA Today "Life" section editors) are living our lives for us via the different forms of media.
Do we even know what we want, what makes us happy, how to feel without being told by the blinking box?
8 comments:
I completely agree! I think everyone has a certain amount of creativity in them and one person's creativity was the invention of the television, another, the cell phone, etc. But we've been drastic in clinging ourselves to those things so much that we are ignoring all the other elements of pure nature to spark our imagination!! I've begun to pray about not being hooked on my phone=(
naw i think that people like to listen in and find out about famous stars 'cus thats the "cool" thing or 'cus tha stars be "cool". i could care less, but i mean them rumors spread so i think you'll hear them "famous stories" wether you wanna hear them or not. And yes i think our creativity level be going down. It's the media man im telling you.
hmm....
i totally agree with meli & shelly! props to ma girls! =]
but seriously.
i am one of those people that spend more time watching tv but it a DISEASE i tell ya! its so addicting! i couldnt imagine giving it up. but i am still creative. it really does make like no sense to me when people CARE about BRIT SPEARS!!!! ugh! that seriously does make me mad. they talk about her even on CNN! REAL NEWS! its INSANE!
but how are we suppose to stop? everyone in the world is not going to just stop watching tv or wondering how britney spears f'd up her life this week!
someone needs to take a stand!! no tv. no mtv. no britney spears. no EXTRA! none of it!
WHOS WITH ME? HIP HIP...HOORAY!
-ms.beasley[teeuh]
Im up to Tierra's challenge!!! I got ur back amiga!! =)
i'm up for the challenge. =] I watch zero amount of TV just as it is and the only reason I know a little about Britney Spears is all the magazine covers that people buy from me at work. I do need 2 stay away from my ipod and internet however.
and I agree with whatever u said Mr Huffman! I was looking at the magazine covers and one of them said 3 hundred something must haves for this summer. I was thinking there are ppl who would actually try 2 acquire all these things/ or feel like a loser otherwise coz a piece of entertainment -related thing says so. its sad how almost everybody I sit down with in the breakroom can talk about some celebrity gossip and almost everyone knows what each other is talking about.
oh, and high five! I remember when u said u canceled cable in ur house last year...can't believe its been a year!
Mr. H. good one. i really like this and agree with the ladies. who cares about those people? we should worry about our family and our sisters, not Britney Spears kids? I am guilty though of reading the magazines and watching the dumb tv shows. this has really opened my eyes to a lot though. this is probably my favorite blog so far, because it is something i personally deal with day to day. i think we need to find the great things in life that we believe, not what the tv or radio tell us.. good one mr. H
I want you all to know (especially the ones responding to this blog) that it is really exciting to share ideas with you guys. You are a good group of people who help restore faith in a positive future.
As a result of the video we watched today, I would like to challenge myself to unplug from the Matrix and get reconnected with my world. That means connecting with the people, the land and the food. I think I am going to start trying to buy food at some farmer's markets and talk to the folks who grow this stuff.
Anyhow, you folks are great. Let's keep this good energy flowing.
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