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Remember, you may also complete the weekly Slice of Life in your Writer's Notebook.
Finally, a weekend to finish my book. After giving an excited BookTalk in April about Pulitzer Prize winning author Sonia Nazario’s painstakingly researched nonfiction odyssey entitled Enrique’s Journey, I have at last been able to scavenge the necessary handful of hours to enjoy, not robo-read, the last hundred and thirty pages of the book. No EdPsych project proposals to finish, no triple-booked Saturdays of milestones, no end of grading period “t’s” to be crossed and “i’s” to be dotted, or "have-to's" at all – just wide open, free time.
And now, almost two weeks after receiving my masters degree and seventy pages in to a new book, I find myself wondering, what else could I accomplish - in particular, what could I really do if I gave myself time away, time away from media's constant voice - via a summer without TV? The ‘Debbie Downer’ voice in my head chirps, “You rarely go a day without TV…”. Regardless, I guess it’s with optimism that I think “What could I enjoy, accomplish, do during a summer without cable and TV?” A summer without television would mean: more time to read, write, and exercise; more interest in exercising and excitement to play Frisbee golf, walk, run, ride bikes; open space to clean, organize, and finally get those old clothes and unneeded items to Goodwill; more time to connect with, call, e-mail, and visit friends and family; time to be outside and enjoy camping as an adventure rather than an interruption of my usual life; time to plan for next school year at a steady, relaxed pace; the opportunity and opening to walk dogs at the shelter.
Because there is a preoccupation that comes from an over-saturation of TV and media in life, it gives you something to think about other than you, your life, etc and literally *escape* through; twenty-four hour cable television is an ever-ready detour sign available at the push of a button. The noise and supposed busyness of television shows bring a hollow, one dimensional life into a space; it doesn't truly fill the void of lonesomeness and wishing you were somewhere else; it just ushers your conscious mind away to products you don't need and people whom you alternately want to be or want to believe you are better than.
Despite the “Unplug the TV and cancel the cable” zeal in this slice, I do realize you can be plugged in to anything, any gimmick too much, which can arise anytime you are waiting for someone or something else to do the hard work for you. At least “Summer '11 minus TV” is centered on opening all the doors and windows so my consciousness can air out and take a big old breath of the finer things in life, which conveniently don’t cost $$$ per month, have commercial interruptions, or require a “MUTE” button to be tolerable. So, what can I accomplish in a summer without TV? We shall see :-).
FYI: American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV. – The Kaiser Family Foundation