On this wind-and-snow battered Saturday morning when I (and the whole of the Northeast) woke up to a moving wall of white outside our windows, I ended my subscription to Netflix. There was a moment's temptation to perhaps defer this to a working day or one with more clement weather, to submit to another winter weekend of huddling on the sofa and binge-watching; but we had decided - no more.
I had never watched much television before moving to the US. My family of seven had two televisions, and I usually lacked the motivation to negotiate TV time and watch a specific show on a specific day at a specific time. At the same time, I am quite choosy and wouldn't watch just anything that was playing when the TV was available. All this translated to under 2 hours of TV a week.
Netflix on the other hand is peculiarly suited to my passive, demotivated, and yet selective TV-watching behavior. It is easy; it is available; it has variety and even quality; it is in short, a movable feast. Twenty minutes can seamlessly morph into an hour or three on my dilapidated couch. It begins to replace all the things I actually want to do at home, whether quotidian (cleaning, cooking), necessary for health (exercise,sleep), or good for the soul (entertaining, writing, music, art).
Like Thoreau in 1845, I now wish to live deliberately. To use my leisure time with the same thought and dedication I give to my career. To truly do the things I want to do, and to live a life of quality.
It has been 14 hours since I suspended Netflix, and since then I have:
- Exercised for an hour
- Spoken with my family
- Spoken with friends
- Listened to Andrea Bocelli and Luciano Pavarotti
- Cleaned out my bookcase
- Cleaned out my "miscellaneous" storage unit
- Packed a box of things to donate
- Cooked a healthy lunch
- Entertained friends over home-cooked dinner
- Made music
- Played two board games
- Written this blog post, my first of 2016
The withdrawal pangs are going to hit, perhaps mid-week. But thus far, cold turkey has never looked so good.
8 comments:
Congrats! It's not that how long you live it's how well satisfying you live. Anilbhai
Well done. A great start to breaking the self imposed shackles. Mayank
You have made the Right Choice
I admire your will power in making the decision.
You have made the Right Choice
I admire your will power in making the decision.
Awesome!!! Well utilized 14 hours :D. How's the snow treating ya?
Congratulations... Will be thinking of you and Saurabh as I indulge in my get-up-to-speed-mini-marathon of the XFiles today. Will try to feel a little shame. - Akeel
Thanks Akeel, Kalpi, Paapu, Pappa and Mom!
Post a Comment