Carrie and Danielle - Latest Comments in What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

paula — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:46:58 -0000

Playing Xplorers on asobrain.com

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Angela — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 00:34:57 -0000

If I didn't watch tv, I'd read, sew and do needlework.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

lynn — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:32:33 -0000

We haven't had TV in our home since March 17, 1994 when our oldest was 15 and our youngest was 6. Several of our five kids have thanked us for pulling the plug. We can watch movies, but have no TV reception. With all this "free time" we read, do projects, visit with each other. It is amazing to see what has happened to TV and commercials in 14 years.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Ngonzi Truth Crushshon — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:54:57 -0000

As a child, my dad would only let us watch 2 tv shows a day...Everytime we watched a tv show or movie we had to discuss it. I thank him for that. Now I'm a much more social person.....and I think challenge the status quo. U should never let someone or the tv tell you what/how to think. Think for yourself!

Socializing. talking. hanging w friends/family. churching. spanish class. working out. emailing. myspacing. facebooking. therapizing people. HA HA!

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

leahlillith — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 02:36:23 -0000

i don't watch t.v..... i used to be addicted to it. i live in the boonies where the choice is sattilite or nothing. i've opted for nothing,. i read more, connect more with my friends... most of the time.... my life is richer, more alive, more like life.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

jennifersage — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:55:09 -0000

What a smoking piece of truth. Yikes!!!!! I amoff to Amazon to have a look at this book. The Truth is painful. I am mindful if Lucia,s posting on the arts

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

candylee — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 00:25:16 -0000

I'd be starting to read "The World is Flat" which has been sitting on my bookshelf for ages.... I *will* start it one day... soon!

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Andrea — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 22:26:05 -0000

We have a TV, but no cable, and we don't pick up any channels with an antenna. So I read a lot---more than anyone else I know. I do watch TV when I'm at my parents' house (they live just down the road), but that's usually only one or two days a week.

If I watched even less TV than I already do, though, I'd spend it playing with my toddler son.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

jennifersage — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 20:16:54 -0000

Anna you hit the nail exaxctly on the head here. I was in in dependant practice as a midwife for nearly 20 yearsand saw the pregnant mothers for their antenatal care in my consulting room in my house.I had a good range of toys and books. I could always easily pick the children who had no TV in their home. How did I do that
:EASY They could entertain themselves with what was provided for as long as the consultation lasted.
My appointments were placed an hour apart so the mothers could take all the time they wanted.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Lori_from_Texas — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 19:37:16 -0000

TV is one of my favorite escapes from the slings and arrows of every day life...if I weren't watching TV...I would be faced with a boy who loves to hear stories, a girl who wants to talk through her day, a husband who wants my arms around him, a book enticing me from the kitchen table, a mother who would love a phone call, and a journal with a waiting page.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

DanielleLaPorte — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:37:48 -0000

this speaks brilliantly to today's question:

"Most of us spend many hours each week watching celebrated athletes playing in enormous stadiums. Instead of making music, we listen to platinum records cut by millionaire musicians. Instead of making art, we go to admire paintings that brought in the highest bids at the latest auction. We do not run risks acting on our beliefs, but occupy hours each day watching actors who pretend to have adventures, engaged in mock-meaningful action.

This vicarious participation is able to mask, at least temporarily, the underlying emptiness of wasted time. But it is a very pale substitute for attention invested in real challenges. The flow experience that results from the use of skills leads to growth; passive entertainment leads nowhere. Collectively we are wasting each year the equivalent of millions of years of human consciousness. The energy that could be used to focus on complex goals, to provide enjoyable growth, is squandered on patterns of stimulation that only mimic reality."
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Scott424 — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:13:58 -0000

Talk with my lovely wife, Play more with my son, Walk the dog, Write down a real estate action plan, read about real estate. Have more fun...

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Courtney — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:31:13 -0000

If I weren't watching television, I would be reading a novel.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

alligator_kate — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 16:49:56 -0000

Several years ago I put my working t.v. that I had inherited from my roommate in college out on the street with a note. This was on Avenue A in the East Village. I had been waiting for the t.v. to die of natural causes, as my dear husband loved his Sunday cooking shows, and I had not wanted to deprive him of them. Being a penny pincher, he probably wouldn't rush out and buy a new t.v. But fired up over a silly fight, and realizing that this Zenith was actually well built and chugging right along indefinitely, I left it on the street with a note written in red ink that read "Free. Working. Take me. I'm your's. Then the contract is broken. Sincerely, Dr. Faustus." It was snatched up in about 15 minutes.
Now I read more, write more, listen to public radio, collage, knit, and er.... spend more quality time with my man, who forgave me and now downloads his cooking shows to the computer.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

laurel — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:11:15 -0000

It would be cooler if I could speak decent Italian! But that's nobody's fault but mine (as Led Zeppelin once remarked.)

I should say that I'm not entirely convinced this quote isn't bogus.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Tammy_D — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 15:06:25 -0000

Italy...cool!

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Ellen — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:52:30 -0000

For me, it's what I do instead of watching TV on a daily basis:
Reading
Laundry
Working
Cooking
Enjoying my sweetheart
Walking the dog
Chatting with the neighbors
Sleeping

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

laurel — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:39:43 -0000

I originally found it in the comments section of a blog I read but it was later taken down. You can find it on this page:
http://www.itwillpass.com/quotes_bank_quotes.shtml

I was just as scared reading Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine, actually.

No, I don't mind you asking -- I'm in Italy.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

jennifer — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:23:48 -0000

I really like your philosophy on time management.
"it could be considered intellectual and moral laziness to spend our time and energy wrapped up in fake stories instead of going out and creating our own."
We do have such a short time here when you think about the perspective of history, and the fact that no one is guaranteed another breath. I'm inspired to live within these thoughts and outside of the control of the media and commercial world. Thanks actionpotential!

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Ginger — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:22:33 -0000

....and journaling...write so much more without tv in bedroom....

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Ginger — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:20:31 -0000

I couldn't agree more. I have not had a tv in my bedroom for over 10 years and it really helps with sleep patterns...especially now as my hormones are doing their own disruptive thing . I read more. The bedroom does truly become a "haven"...candles, great linens, relaxing colors.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

actionpotential — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:04:10 -0000

I haven't owned a TV in four years, and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made. I've even had people try to GIVE me TVs, and have turned them down. I honestly don't have the time. I need a lot of self-nurturing, and between school, homework, cooking/eating, working out, journaling, cleaning, reading, making art, sleeping.....my days aren't long enough as it is. I do have a netflix membership and watch the occassional DVD on my laptop. I enjoy renting television series, as I get the good stuff without commercials. Speaking of commercials, except for the ads on websites like this one, my life is nearly advertisement-free, and that makes me feel much more content with my life.

We have precious little time on this earth...it could be considered intellectual and moral laziness to spend our time and energy wrapped up in fake stories instead of going out and creating our own.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

LaLou — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:22:10 -0000

My budget eliminated the possibility of cable for me and I've been without it for a year. Don't worry though, there is plenty of mindless crap on the handful of channels I do get.

I live in a small apartment so basically the kitchen, living and dining areas are one small room. By committing to turning off the TV in the evenings I would eat more mindfully, unwind with music and go to bed earlier--going to bed earlier would lead to more time with the boy in bed ;)

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Elisabeth — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:05:33 -0000

Well truthfully, if there was something I would rather be doing when I'm watching tv, I would be doing it. There are a few tv shows that my husband and I enjoy together, and it's lovely to curl up on the couch with him for an hour or so and laugh. Sometimes my husband will want to watch a show that doesn't interest me, so I do other things - read, work on my computer, pick up clutter, work out - while he's doing that. And sometimes, I don't want to work or read or talk to anyone; I just want to lie on the couch and be entertained. That's when I turn on Animal Planet or TLC and just relax. :D
In all, the tv is off most of the time in our house. No one watches the news, or flips channels mindlessly out of boredom or inertia, or puts it on for background noise. We turn on the tv maybe 2 or 3 times a week, when there's something we definitely want to watch.

Re: What would you be doing if you weren’t watching TV?

Susie Hutchinson — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:54:37 -0000

I would be sleeping!