Throw Away Your Television

Just an observation.

I've been commuting to work from a different station for the past ten months and the walk from the car takes me around seven minutes and through a few different roads.

Of an evening as I pass by my eyes are drawn through curtain less windows and most if not all of these homes have an enormous TV that dominates the space entirely. I can't honestly remember seeing anything else of significance adorn the walls of these rooms, no pictures, no book shelves just blank walls and a screen that demands your attention even from the outside. 

This in itself doesn't mean a thing and I'm aware of that, particularly if I'm only comparing to my own living space. Also it's likely different for singles, childless couple and families and people could have all these other things in plenty of other rooms but I've no intention of knocking on doors and asking questions. I remember we had a TV growing up, and a stereo stack system with wall mounted speakers, record shelves, book shelves, cabinets, CD towers, art on the walls and family photos scattered around. That was some thirty years ago and it's not just the size of the TV that has changed but I would guess the importance as well.

My wife and I have a inside joke about being asked why we don't have the TV mounted and why we choose to hang artwork on the walls instead. We have an average sized TV (erring on small) on a table and art on three of the four walls. That doesn't mean every time we have guests it sparks conversation, or that we spend our time contemplating the meaning behind the work but it certainly has more of a positive affect than the TV.  

Of course I'm not saying literally throw away your television, or ignoring the fact that there's plenty of outstanding new programming as well as that of nostalgic importance. Maybe it's a question of human interaction, family values even and has technology changed our lives for better or for worse in regards to these things.

I don't really know what I'm trying to say but I was just so grateful to have had the notion to write something, no matter how confused and disorganised. I'm going to spend some time over the next few days working through my drafts and get more finished as part of getting myself better after what's been too exigent a period of my adult life mentally, emotionally and physically.