Friday, March 11, 2011

Slow living.

The other night I was freaking for the 100x about how I don't understand how anyone has time to watch tv. I really don't! We haven't had cable tv in over 8 years, and haven't even had a tv off and on over that time, and we don't have one now. We use the netflix plan where you get 2 DVDs per month. We barely make it through that. We don't have internet at home, either.

Where do people find that kind of time? I asked Kaden.

I can't remember exactly what his words were. I could make something up for the sake of a good story, but I prefer not to put words in his mouth. He pointed out that our lifestyle is different from people who spend several hours a day watching tv. We walk most places (except to work, which is a 30-45 min drive away). We cook nearly all of our meals, only going out to eat once or twice a month. He is working on his Master's Thesis and I take a handful of classes - all are within a half-hour's walking distance (painting, yoga, and I'm starting a class on the book "Keeping a True Lent" at Unity next week). We spend the rest of our spare time reading.

For some time, I have admired the idea of slow living but always assumed it was something I couldn't do. Suddenly it has become something that I am doing, without even realizing it!

What a pleasant surprise!

This all being said, I am looking forward to the weekend. We have plans to go to my folks' house and watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy with my sister and her boyfriend. I did that with them a month or so ago, and it was one of the most fun & relaxing things I've done recently! It's comforting that those shows are a constant in our society.

2 comments:

Vappu said...

We haven't had a tv for years. I do enjoy watching it a few times a year at other people's houses. I've been thinking about it- should we eventually get a small one so DD can watch some kids' shows? Or could we get enough stuff from internet (we have a projector) so we could watch something? She is not old enough to think anything is missing. At her cousins she will watch some shows with them. I do sometimes think it would be nice to turn on the tv and let her watch for an hour :D Undecided, but I think we will try to go without! We can watch some movies and shows with the projector and make it a special thing...

Liina said...

That sounds like a good idea, to make it special for your kid! Several of my friends grew up "babysat" by tv, and that is still their favorite comfort as adults, and I think that's kind of a bummer!

I don't know much about internet tv but it sounds like you can find whatever you want there. And that's really cool that you have a projector, so you don't have the visual focus of a television, and you have a reason to keep a bare wall =)

ps. noticed you are in Finland. My name/heritage is Finnish, but I have never been there!