Days 23-31

''Do what needs to be done, not what you'’d rather do.' '' (J. Willard Marriott, Jr.[Marriott Corp. CEO]: A Time to Every Purpose", Ensign, Oct. 1982)

How appropriate are those words on the last day of my television fast?!

31 days of no TV has been an overwhelming personal success, but still, somehow, bittersweet.  Sweet, because by turning off the tube I have been able to accomplish so much more, bitter because of what it says about me and TV.  A part of me was hoping, expecting even, that the end result would have shown that, sure I could stand to cut out some TV but that my TV-watching habit wasn't that bad.  Instead what it's shown is that, indisputably, I spend way too much time watching other people at work (I have to constantly remind myself those actors have already been paid for the show I'm tuned to).

I also have to call to mind the reason I took up this endeavor in the first place.  It was after spending half of a Saturday watching Khloe and Lamar.  Khloe and Lamar!  I don't watch any of the Kardashians, yet after channel surfing I was somehow drawn in and watched a marathon of them.  What's really sad is that I had been home 24/7 for a full week with the kids (summertime no less), and Saturday was supposed to be my reprieve.  And with the hubby home, a sunny day ahead of me, you would think I would have headed out to seize the day.  No, I was sitting on the couch watching a Kardashian.  That was when I knew that something had to change.   And the truth is, 90 percent of the shows I watch, probably wouldn't be watched if  a) the power to record them didn't exist  b) I didn't channel surf.

The fact that I have accomplished a lot during this month of no television is an understatement.  Not only did I finish editing a novel I've been working on, I also tackled several children's stories.  I'm teaching myself about bookbinding (hmmm, thinking Christmas gifts), I built my own bookbinding jig, I'm teaching myself Adobe InDesign, I even tried my hand at illustrations (though I realize I don't have the skill set, I still tried).  The reality is that had I continued watching television this month--had I not completely sworn off it--I doubt I would be celebrating anything.  I think I would be approaching September praying for some time to get something done.

In the past, projects remained unfinished because I never had the time to dedicate to them.  At night, after the kids went to bed, there would be an internal struggle deciding what project would be tackled.   But suddenly when I cut out TV, during the day I'm taking care of 2 or 3 of the smaller projects, leaving time at night for another one.

Last year, when the kids were in school, around 3:30 I would resign myself and think, the kids are going to be home soon, I can't finish [insert project name here], I might as well watch [fill in show's name here].  And I would sit down and watch the show.  Now when the time approaches 3:30, I'm think, wow, I have enough time to start/work on/complete [fill in project's name here]!

My mindset has truly changed about television.  Around the middle of the month I couldn't wait to be able to turn the TV back on.  I was waiting for this self-imposed restriction to be lifted.  I was longing for my familiar shows, or some days I just needed a break.  Now that September first is tomorrow, I have no immediate plans to turn on the TV except to deselect most of the shows set to record.  I'm going to have to set limits for myself the way I do with the kids.


While I hate the restrictiveness of a no-TV month, I appreciate the discipline, so much so I'm thinking of making September no-Junk Food month.

Any takers?