Can I just say that I absolutely love driving down the road with the windows down and inhaling the scent of honeysuckles? Honeysuckles just bring on a flood of memories for me. Mainly being at my grandparents house with my grandpa and him showing me how to slowly pull the stem out, revealing the tiny drop of clear sweetness. I showed my niece how to do that recently and failed miserably. She was bored after 10 seconds.
It never fails that something else grabs our attention so quickly. When I was kid, I can remember spending so much time outside, but then again, I can also remember spending so much time in front of the TV. A couple of days ago, I found some videos on Youtube showing me all of the best 80's & 90's kid shows, and I could sing the lyrics to nearly all of the opening songs. I'll be honest, it was so much fun! But really, when I started to think about it, I noticed that the list of kid TV shows got longer and longer. So much time wasted.
I've been thinking a lot lately on how we are only given so much time here in this place. 80 years if you're lucky. We don't even know how long we have. I shouldn't waste it watching nonsense, but I do it all the time! For some reason it's just thrilling to transport yourself to an island in the Pacific with 40+ passengers of a crashed plane (Oceanic 815), flying the Millennium Falcon throughout the galaxy while using the Force to keep your spaceship together or hunting down a legendary gunman who is worth 60 billion double dollars and then realizing that he is, in fact, a kindhearted man who prevents killings. Maybe it's just that we want our lives to look more like movies and TV shows, interesting and exciting. I know there are many of you out there who think this way. Whether you're currently depressed and you push in that old 2 tape, VHS of Titanic or if you are so overwhelmed and busy that you just want to veg out for a while, it can become very routine to sit down every night to watch something. I've been there, guys.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that movies are bad, but it's when the obsession takes over when, I believe, it becomes a bad thing. In high school, I can remember sometimes watching movies all day long. If you were to take the TV away, you would be left sitting (or laying) and looking in the same direction for hours on end. I constantly have to put limits on how much I watch because I know that it can become an addiction for me. But I still fail at this.
One day, I felt God telling me to get rid of some of the junk in my life. I had over 250 DVD's, and with the help of my best friend, Holly, I cut that down to 96 movies. Not that my movies were horrible, X rated movies or anything. I just had SO many. Who needs that many movies? Now, some of you who are reading this are probably thinking, "Woah, 96 movies is still a lot." I'll admit it. It's still a lot. And I'm working on it.
We all have a story. And if we all just sat down and told our stories to each other, I'm sure we would find something incredibly interesting about each one. Tear jerking romance and thrilling action and adventure. Compassion. Heartache. Confession. Miracles. Love. One thing we need to remember is that TV shows and movies are NOT real life. Real life is what we do everyday, and we should start living each day as if we were about to crash into a deserted island.
I just don't want to wake up one day, look back at my life and say, "Where did the last 10 years of my life go? Oh, yeah, I was watching other people live." I don't want to take advantage of this time I've been given. This is something I am continuously working on.
Here's a list thingy:
What to do instead of "obsessively" transporting yourself into an alternate reality
•Play guitar.
•Write a blog
•Write short stories or poetry or a song
•Open a history book and learn something new
•Sing
•Talk to God
•Read (Bible, Hunger Games etc.)
•Go outside
•Volunteer your time
•Hang out with friends or make friends
•Move to another country. (See my other blog Nomadmemoirs)
•Draw or Paint
•Hike
•Surf
•Climb
•Play
•Love
See ya'll in the funny papers!
Erin.
3 comments:
Erin I love this!!!! There are so many truths here. What is happening to us??? We are just letting life pass us by.
I got convicted several years ago about what I watch and how MUCH I watch. I felt the Spirit of the Lord telling me that all that time I spent watching TV I could be using to get to know Him better. It's so funny, we make up all kinds of excuses as to why we don't make time to be in God's Word. I've never once heard someone say that they don't read their Bible because they watch too much TV. See if I had spent as much time reading about Him as I did watching about how to redecorate my home or how CSI Miami was going to solve the next crime or how desperate the next housewife was going to be, then my life would change. What we fill ourselves up with is what comes out. I hardly ever watch TV now but I sure do read lot. I have fallen head over heels in love with my Saviour through the reading of His Word. And you know I never even miss the tube anymore!
Thanks so much for sharing with us Erin~
Yes, I feel that too! I just don't want my life to pass by with me just sitting on the sidelines. I want to be the quarterback of my life, ya know? I think I'm going to go through my movies again and see what happens. :)
Good post Marzapan. I'm still going to watch all 50+ Woody Allen movies though :D
The bathroom is probably my favorite place in the world. When no one is home I like to have a cup of coffee and read a book while sitting in the empty bathtub. It's always quiet.
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