I have been besties with television for God knows how long. But as the media grows, and as I also grow, I noticed that the effects made by television to me somehow shifted along the time. I’m not sure if it was because of my increasing age (wisdom? *meh) or it’s the shows that’s been changing.
I’ll try to break it down here. Below are my television eras sort of like.
- Elementary school. All I can recall from this childhood of mine are (children) music; American and Japanese cartoons; Indonesian (local) children movie or shows; and some action from MacGyver, The A-Team, and Remington Steele. I don’t think I clearly understood what those shows were about. So they were merely entertainment.
- Middle school. I think this age marked the first time I got hooked to television. We started to own a cable, so my choice of show was extensive. I remember I used to park in front of it right after I got home and changed. I think I even had my lunch there, on the couch, in front of the telly. It was my MTV era. And I was crazy about music back then. So when I was not doing anything else, that’s where I’d most likely be. For me as a teenager, the music (references) and the English speaking helped me survived my teen-life and shaped my personality. Oh, speaking of which, I forgot to mention the Sesame Street show. Yes. Aside from Alternative Nation, MTV Classic, and MTV Unplugged, I did tuned in to the wiz of Big Bird and friends!
Courtesy of Wikipedia
- High school. This is not as important tv era as the middle school. I didn’t had an enlightenment of any kind. My personal development and life-enrichment was mostly gained through books, social relationship and such. I remember the television show I consumed during that period of time was American comedy series (Friends! and such), soccer games, Japanese soap operas, and reality shows. My highlight: comedy series and soccer games. I still enjoy them until now. I think that comedy and sport (despite the politics) is sincerely entertaining and inspiring, way more than the latter subjects I mentioned.
- College. Those days, television was my escape from pile of assignments and daily routine of campus life. Mostly I watched it in the evening, after I managed to get home and relax. My choice of entertainment was somewhat the same as before. I guess I’ve come to an age where my TV personality might stop developing. Or is it our TV media that had stop innovating? Huh. Anyway, college days was when I got crazy about CSI series. I dig all the franchise. I had a thing for detectives, criminology and forensic since I was a kid. I used to read Alfred Hitchcock and Agatha Christie. Now, the TV have brought the excitement alive for me. After CSI—as you’d know—television have been showering me with detectives. Bones, Monk, Criminal Minds, love them all!
Well, nowadays, I still love those television series. Notably, musical show—I love musical—Glee! I’ think musical series is gaining popularity and I’m pretty sure there will be other musical coming up. So, it’s hard to miss this trending show on television.
Back in the days when I was busy roaming outside the house, television was my companion while I’m home. Now that I’ve resigned from my previous career, I’m pretty much home all day with as much TV as I can consume. But as I was trying to build a new working habit and develop future career, I realize that I need to turn my TV off.
Usually I turn my TV on when:
- I don’t have anything else to do
- I have something better to do but choose to do it later
- I actually have scheduled work to be done, but get lazy to start
You see, it gets worse.
At one point, I know I have to limit my television time in a day. Just one hour less each day would make a significant change in my life. In an hour I could clean up my tiny apartment, or write a blog post, or write a hundred-ish words of a story, or read 50 pages. Multiply that and imagine the kinds of achievements I could accomplish!
I’m proud to say that I’ve been keeping my TV off during the day, so I can do some other meaningful works. I watch it in the morning with my husband for news update, and in the evening when my husband’s home from work to watch some movies together.
All my life, television has done considerable (good) affects to me. It’s been more than merely entertainment media (not talking about the news casts here), it has contributed a number of aspects to my perspective and personality throughout those years. But as I aged and have new goals in life, it’s best to draw the line and make my 24 hours a day matter.
shita hapsari 