A Lenten Challenge

So, this realization hit near the end of the lenten season.  I decided to give up this personal TV time over lent, which lead to some interesting situations.  More importantly, I got a realization of how much TV I have actually watched over the past few months. 

Over the past two months, I found myself with quite a few weekends in which the apartment was eerily quiet as the TV was off.  It was in these times that I realized how different life would be over Lent, and likely after Lent as well.

What happened?  I re-learned how to appreciate silence, which I used to love but hadn't taken the time in a long while to enjoy it.  I also caught up on reading, including some Douglas Adams and the Hunger Games Trilogy (yes, I'll admit I've read it).  This newfound time also led to more opportunities for prayer and adventure outside the apartment.

What would you do with the hours in the week you normally spend watching tv?

Suggestion one for a life less passive:

Turn off the TV more often. Try it for a week. Try it for a Lenten season (40 days).

A Life Less Passive

A life, less passive. What does that even mean exactly? I believe that culture, at least American culture, has led us to become more of passive observers in life rather than active participants. What has subsumed our lives outside of work? Televisions, computers, iPhones and iPads; we spend a lot of time reading, watching TV, checking up on the news or sports scores, reading about everything happening in the lives of our friends on Facebook or twitter, or in other words constantly consuming information. Dont get me wrong, sometimes we share something we see with our Facebook friends, perhaps posting a comment sharing our opinion on some matter, but in the grand scheme of things, we are but passively observing life around us. That's what I'm calling the passive observer lifestyle: one who soaks in information, giving out opinions and occasionally being creative.

This is me. Was me. Over the past few months I have come to check and read Facebook constantly, occasionally add a comment or two but not really connecting with people through it, keeping a constant eye on the New York Times and BBC News pages, staying overly up to date on mac news by checking macrumors about 10x per day, and watching lots of tv in the downtime.