lessons in reality tv

For years, we lived without tv. We watched Disney and HGTV while traveling and that was plenty for us. When we moved to Decatur last fall, I decided that I was ready to get cable once again. Our tv watching comes and goes. Some weeks I watch too much. Other times, I can go weeks without turning it on.

This week, I’m having a hard time settling down to do anything I need to do. My mind has been racing and refuses to focus on one thing at a time, meaning that I get nothing done. Instead of occupying my mind with food or drink or refreshing my twitter feed or picking at my cuticles or other diversions, things which often do the trick, I’m watching tv. I hate watching tv so much, but it’s better than my other methods of keeping myself focused.

This week, I have caught a number of episodes of “Trading Spouses/Wife Swap” while “Getting Things Done”. I’ve found myself surprised by the outcomes over and over again (as I suppose I’m expected to be). For instance, I thought I’d side with the vegan mom from California, but I actually liked her counterpart, the Cajun swamp tour mom, a heck of a lot better. And the PhD researcher? Ugh, I sure wish the medieval enactors could have taught her (and her family) a thing or two, but they were so caught up on appearances that they just could not have fun.

However, I greatly enjoy the families that come into the exchanges with open minds and really learn from each other. It has me wondering what we could learn about ourselves from an outside observer. Are we too structured? Too unstructured? Do we expect too much of the girls? Or too little? Do we spend too much time cleaning? How can we spend more time together as a family?

In addition, I see some parts of myself in the more closed-minded people who are faced with people who think differently or who have had different paths in life. I don’t like what I see. I vow to be more tolerant and less judgmental from here on out.

While I’m not up for a swap such as the one on tv and I can’t really be an independent observer of my own family, I’m going to work on seeing where we can make small changes in order to make our lives not only run smoother but to have more joy in them.

Once I can get myself to turn off the tv, that is. The more tv we watch, the crankier we all are.

free time - 5 aug 2012