*heavy sigh*
*more sounds of laptop keys being hit*
Repeat for the majority of the day.
That is how my last couple of days have been. No, I am not slaving over a hard assignment that requires all my attention (although I do have work to do). No, I did not give up anything up during Lent (except social media networks -- for a couple of hours -- during the week because I can't afford not to eat chicken on Fridays; I need the calories) that would have me sit in silence for hours at a time. No. I simply got rid of cable TV and that has made me life a lot more quiet.
Mom and I finally came to the realization that we were paying way too much for cable and a land line that we hardly used. I usually had the TV on for background noise during the day but didn't really watch it that much. As soon as Time Warner upped the price, we decided to cut it completely. It was either food or cable and I'm rather fond of eating so it was a no-brainer. :-P It took us a while to get the courage to cut cable but when we finally got rid of the services, it was a spur of the moment decision. Roku boxes were on sale and we had time to cancel the service before the next billing cycle started so we went ahead and did it on Wednesday. That evening, after I got both TVs hooked up and started a Hulu Plus subscription for mom (she works hard; she deserves her Spanish language shows), I noticed that it was quiet all of a sudden... and it was weird.
For the first time since I was about 5 years old, we don't have cable. I don't have an excuse to procrastinate on a number of things. Sure, I have books but TV and movies are bigger procrastination tools than books. Okay, we have Hulu Plus and we're going to try out Netflix for a month but even then, I'm not glued to the TV or laptop, watching movies and shows, as much as I was when we had cable. It's weird for me not to have the TV on. I mean, I still remember the first show I watched when we got cable (Inspector Gadget on Nickelodeon back when cartoons were still good). In a way, having the TV on (even if I wasn't watching it) was sort of a safety blanket. An expensive one.
This quietness will take some getting used to but I truly believe it's for the best. My day starts off very quietly. I'm no longer tempted to have the TV on for background noise. I can do it via Hulu or Netflix but I don't. I've been watching episodes of shows while I have breakfast or during a break (I work from home, remember?) but I don't sit on the couch or my bed and go through marathons. I only watch for a little while and then my world gets quiet again. The only noises I hear are the clicking of my laptop keys when I'm on it or the sounds from the outside world. By 9 p.m., I'm ready for some reading and prayers and then I'm ready for bed at 10. No time is wasted on watching the same episode of the same show for the billionth time. No channel surfing and trying to find something (anything!) in the 900 channels on digital cable to help me get over my "boredom." Just more quiet (perfect for my nighttime prayers) and then a restful sleep.
Mom and I finally came to the realization that we were paying way too much for cable and a land line that we hardly used. I usually had the TV on for background noise during the day but didn't really watch it that much. As soon as Time Warner upped the price, we decided to cut it completely. It was either food or cable and I'm rather fond of eating so it was a no-brainer. :-P It took us a while to get the courage to cut cable but when we finally got rid of the services, it was a spur of the moment decision. Roku boxes were on sale and we had time to cancel the service before the next billing cycle started so we went ahead and did it on Wednesday. That evening, after I got both TVs hooked up and started a Hulu Plus subscription for mom (she works hard; she deserves her Spanish language shows), I noticed that it was quiet all of a sudden... and it was weird.
For the first time since I was about 5 years old, we don't have cable. I don't have an excuse to procrastinate on a number of things. Sure, I have books but TV and movies are bigger procrastination tools than books. Okay, we have Hulu Plus and we're going to try out Netflix for a month but even then, I'm not glued to the TV or laptop, watching movies and shows, as much as I was when we had cable. It's weird for me not to have the TV on. I mean, I still remember the first show I watched when we got cable (Inspector Gadget on Nickelodeon back when cartoons were still good). In a way, having the TV on (even if I wasn't watching it) was sort of a safety blanket. An expensive one.
This quietness will take some getting used to but I truly believe it's for the best. My day starts off very quietly. I'm no longer tempted to have the TV on for background noise. I can do it via Hulu or Netflix but I don't. I've been watching episodes of shows while I have breakfast or during a break (I work from home, remember?) but I don't sit on the couch or my bed and go through marathons. I only watch for a little while and then my world gets quiet again. The only noises I hear are the clicking of my laptop keys when I'm on it or the sounds from the outside world. By 9 p.m., I'm ready for some reading and prayers and then I'm ready for bed at 10. No time is wasted on watching the same episode of the same show for the billionth time. No channel surfing and trying to find something (anything!) in the 900 channels on digital cable to help me get over my "boredom." Just more quiet (perfect for my nighttime prayers) and then a restful sleep.
Have you ever experienced the Quiet Place Project? If so, it's kind of like that. (disclaimer: while I do love the Quiet Place Project and recommend it on particularly stressful days, I have to let y'all know that they used a four letter word that is used instead of the word "poop". That's the only curse word they use and it's only once.) Everything is quiet. I am alone with my thoughts. I am not overstimulated by everything happening at once. My attention is focused on a single thing (whatever it is that I have to do). It's wonderful and refreshing since, let's face it, most of us are so overstimulated with everything. Our attention span is quite small and if we get the smallest bit of quiet, most of us go a little cuckoo bananas. tl;dr crowd, I'm looking at you.
While I do live in the "urban suburbs" (seriously, I still don't get this term), I would imagine that how I've been living (and will be living) is as close to my dream of living in the English or Irish countryside as I will get. I am not stressed out over missing this or that on TV. While I do sorely miss my futbol matches (I am currently feeling the gaping void with international matches being played today), I appreciate being free from all the noise and chaos. I am going to find ways of (legally) watching futbol matches but for the mean time, I'm okay. Our ancestors didn't need to be distracted 24/7 by entertainment so if it was good enough for my Nana, it's good enough for me! I really think that, in the long run, this will be the best decision we've made as a family (yes, mama and I by ourselves still counts as a family). No more distractions.
Anyway, just wanted to blog and this has been on my mind lately. I will update y'all on the quiet. I have a feeling something really good will come from it. God has a plan for me and I feel like it's slowly unraveling... and that this is part of it. I can just feel it in my bones.
Alright, I'm off to read. I have My Brother, the Pope on loan from the L.A. Public Library for only 4 more days so I want to go finish it while on a work break. :D
If you have a prayer request, send it my way. :D
As always, thanks for reading and God bless. :D
1 comment:
When we moved recently, we realized our Dish didn't work at our new place. I convinced my husband to try to be cable-free "just for a little while." Well, it's been 7 weeks now, and we're not missing it. We have a Roku box (great for EWTN and CatholicTV, also there's a free movie channel on there that he's found some cool stuff on, and an old-fashioned cartoon channel that the kids love). We can also stream Amazon Prime videos via Roku (we got a sub. when he got me a Fire for Mother's Day last year). We also have an AppleTV which we use for Netflix and Youtube. It's worked out so well! I don't miss it at all. Soon our Prime will expire and we'll be down to just the Roku channels and Netflix. Fine by me!
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