I remember those days when during the holidays, we'd wake up and, after our prayers and chores, the next thing would be to go to the sitting room and turn on the TV set. In fact, at that time, I would watch so much TV, so much so that when I returned to school, I'd have enough gist for my peers. It was boarding school, there wasn't much to do back then.
After living alone for a while and not having a TV set, I got so comfortable with entertaining myself with books, social media and enlightening articles online. I found that these gave me the luxury of background silence which I needed to play out certain scenarios in my head. I got very creative with my thinking and fell a little too in love with my alone time that when I later got a TV set, it was too much of a distraction. If I wasn't mindlessly flipping through TV stations before settling for one to finally watch, I found myself with the TV on and muted while I scrolled through my phone browsing the internet. Asides listening to the news, of which I found the radio more profound with its delivery, i watched comedy shows (at least they'd give me a good laugh) and documentaries.
Armed with the mentality that I shouldn't waste any of my time, I told myself that if I had to spend an hour on the television, I should at least be getting something in return. Knowledge.
Nowadays If I find myself in an environment with a TV, I consciously turn it off, make sure that I tick important items off my to do list before indulging. It's just like how you know ice-cream tastes really good but you also know you can't have it every day. It should be part of a reward system for when you have done more important things.
While speaking to a friend who shares the same views last week, I told him I feel like I'm growing into my parents who, as at when I lived with them were only interested in the news. Much to the disappointment of us children. So I'm guessing the need for information as we grow to be solely responsible for ourselves and others is paramount hence the need to prioritize watching the news when the TV is on.
If it isn't for enlightenment, education or socialising I'd rather the TV be off most times. Make I for see road clearly.
