So, please, oh please, we beg, we pray, go throw your TV set away, and in its place you can install, a lovely bookcase on the wall.  ~Roald Dahl

For almost half a year now, we don’t own bought a TV.

Yes, you heard that right, almost 210 days now without the Bubble tube in our humble home. With today’s  Plasma & LED flat screen TV generation, these days without television made a  difference in our lives. It looks weird not having it if you are used to having a TV in your house. It’s like not having a smartphone. For me, I don’t have such relationship with TV, nor having it didn’t make me  feel outdated or insecure. Although our guests are wondering why we don’t have it. Since they  don’t  have anything to watch while they ogle in our living room,they can just admire our Solar Eclipse photos beautifully hanged in our wall.

I’m one of the person who can say that I can live without TV. This is a personal choice, and not because I am trying to be different or minimalist.It is as normal as some people can’t live without their phone, their car, coffee, or even Lush’s bath bombs, but some can. It’s not something that you’ll die when you don’t watch TV.When most homes today have one or more TV, adding up the smartphones and tablet technology, I can really see that the concept of having a TV in one’s household depends on personal choices from person to person & their lifestyle.

After all, you’re the only one who can dictate what kind of relationship you can have with television.

What kind of relationship  do you have with your TV?

I remember seeing my father fixing our television. He died at a young age and my fond memories of seeing him trying out his best to be the clever Handyman technician-trouble shooting geek to fix our television set when it’s not functioning well. Way back then, flat screens are not yet the fad, but rather TV’s with big picture-tubes. Obviously you can’t hang them in the wall. They come in compartments and stands. My grandmother even owned a TV with partitions. Eventually, it turned into a side table. We loved to watch cartoons in our black  n’ white TV as a family but later on we had the colored one. It is already a prized possession that we have. Colored TV’s on those days are expensive and you need to have a special antenna or subscribe in a cable connection to get nice shows.We have restrictions though, we can only watch a few hours on weekdays and after nap on weekdays. My mother says we can’t watch too much TV because of electric bill. I remember that many of our neighbors doesn’t have a TV yet so they flocked to one of our neighbor who placed their TV in their garden so people can watch some favorite soap operas or sports match.

Life was so simple back then.

Watching TV  means unquestionable happiness, a privilege especially  for someone surrounded with poverty .

When I was living in Kuwait, we had TV provided in our flat. Most flats are equipped with modern televisions and buying flat TV is common for Expats since you don’t have to worry about electric bill.You can have as many as electric appliances as you can. We subscribe to local cable from Philippines so me & my flatmates can watch local news from our home country. Normally we only watch TV during mornings while having breakfast and after work. It’s the only thing you have if there is a Sandstorm. I admit that TV was never a necessity for me. It’s not like that my world would crumble if I don’t watch the latest TV shows or sitcoms. Even with the soaring heat in Kuwait, I managed to be outgoing and spent less sitting in front of it. I known some Expats who can watch  TV all day long and can’t live without it. It was accepted as a “favorite hobby“, right? Our Harris has 2 TV. He would place one of his TV out there in front of his room so he can enjoy watching Football match with his friends while drinking Sheesha. Inside the most traditional tent and Diwaniya Halls in Kuwait are  big flat screen TV where they can enjoy good Arabic Ghawa coffee, tea & dates. Having the TV background adds to the coziness of their habitual Diwaniya.

Watching TV is a  way to temporarily disconnect yourself from your world &  lose yourself  in another dimension, in a medium called TV. One can find a sense of belonging while they’re absorbed watching their drama series, beauty online shopping, or for men–sports. Nowadays, who needs a TV when you have smartphones?

“Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other.”

~ Ann Landers

When  we had our daughter, I watched TV as seldom as the raindrops in Kuwait. I even watched news in zero volume! Looks weird, right? For the reasons that I don’t wanna wake up my daughter when she’s napping. Our living room was connected to her room so the white noise from TV is something I try to avoid. They say that letting your child watch TV makes you a bad parent, but what do you call when parents letting their kids watch You tube, nursery videos in their iPad? If you think that watching TV is nothing but a waste of time compared to reading, then what can you call a person who is glued to a computer, or his/her phone? Bottom line is, everything that is excessive, is abusive.

Watching TV can be a ‘me time‘ for others who just want a simple break and time to relax. Going home from a hard day’s work and  to be in your couch , watching with  warm coffee or tea means total bliss.  It is like cuddled up with potato chips with your favorite book. A simple escape or retreating. It’s the same when I absolutely enjoy my own “me time“when I go on my Wandertags,cycling, or baking goodies for my family. I knew someone that instead of watching TV, she just clean, clean & clean.It’s therapeutic for her.

If I prefer reading interesting Blogs, your Blog for example instead of watching TV, does it mean something? After all, whatever medium it is, every one of us has their own ways of “escaping “from this crazy world and signing-in to another world. It becomes a habitual log-in activity.

Do you have a favorite TV show? How often do you watch TV?