“Television to brain wash us all and Internet to eliminate any last resistance” -Paul Carvel

I am reading this amazing book right now. It’s a true story, which I highly recommend called “Tattoos on the Heart” by Gregory Boyle. In it, there is a man who is an ex-ganger who has turned his life around. He has three children who beg him to buy them a Harry Potter book; usually they go to the bookstore and read there because of the cost of buying. Anyway he breaks down and buys the book. So what do they do every night? They turn off the T.V. and he and his kids read Harry Potter out loud. As he tells his story he begins to break down, his voice trembles, “ I…just close my eyes, sitting in my recliner…listening to my kids…read…out loud.”

Wow, time with children, together, no distractions, connecting. I think this is so beautiful.

There was a man at one of my seminars who decided to turn off his T.V. for a week. He and his son ended up playing guitar and singing together. They had so much fun and connected for the first time in many years.

Another women attending said when she turned off the Internet and T.V she had no idea what to do, in fact, at first she paced. Then she noticed her unfinished book from 2 years ago sitting in the corner, picked it up and finished the project within weeks.

How much time as a whole do we spend on the Internet and watching T.V.? Have we stared numbly while we forget about our passions?

It’s not that I am completely against watching television, I enjoy it every now and then, and in fact it can be very entertaining. But that is what I feel it should be: entertainment. You know, when you go out to hear a band play or go to a baseball game. That is something you do every now and then, not every night for hours. As a country I feel like we treat watching T.V. like we do our food, we super size it. It’s the super size of entertainment.
T.V. has become, as my husband likes to say, “America’s vodka.”

What will you do with the T.V., Internet, and video games off for a week? Yes, a week.
Oh and by the way, it’s not about what you watch. So those of you who have all assured me you are only watching the “Discovery Channel” off it goes as well.

So, what will you do?
Will you finally write the book you talk about? Or create the music that cannot contain itself with in you? Will poetry finally flow from your Spirit? And art from your fingertips? What about time for Visualizing, meditating, gardening? How about playing an old fashioned board game with your kids?

Turn off the Internet.
Turn off the T.V.
Turn off the distractions
Turn on your life.