We Got Rid of Our TV
Thoughts After 1 Month Without It!
The Situation
If you have been around the last month or so, you would know that we moved! It has been over a month now living in Indiana, and that means it has also been over a month living without a TV.
Now, I know some of you might be thinking, as I did when we first started this conversation: “But how do you watch the news or football or the Olympics or the Weather Channel or Gilmore Girls or Hallmark movies?”
We don’t.
However, if we do want to watch something, we use our iPad as a “TV.” It serves the same function, but it can also be easily put away.
Our environment shapes our actions. If we have a giant TV in our living room, and in fact, the whole room is centered around it, then of course we spend lots of time using it! It would be silly not to.
But when the TV (read: iPad) can be put away, the visual cue is removed. It becomes a less frequent thought and therefore a less frequent distraction.
The Explanation
Way before the move, Jackson and I had both felt convicted about the TV and how much time we spent watching it.
We tried to be very intentional with what we watched and careful with what we allowed into our home.
But still, it was such a distraction.
Shortly before we moved, I was working summer school, and one day, the summer custodian at the school, who I did not know and had never spoken to before, struck up a conversation with me. He started telling me about how after his wife had died a few years ago, he found himself wasting way too much time watching TV. So, he decided to get rid of his TV so he could do more living, and he thought we should too.
Now, I am not normally in the habit of just doing whatever complete strangers tell me to do, but…
There have been a handful of times in my life where I felt a very specific word from God. Where I almost felt as if I heard Him audibly speak, or I felt like the words someone else spoke came directly from Him. A few examples…
When I was deciding whether to pursue a relationship with Jackson (spoiler: we got married!).
When I was sitting at my Grandmother’s funeral and the pastor said something to me about how wouldn’t it be fun for my brother and I to be neighbors like my grandmother and great uncle were (spoiler: we basically are now)!
This moment.
So, we got rid of our TV.
The Repercussions
Honestly, getting rid of our TV scared me. I tried to talk Jackson out of it at one point. And those were just more reasons I knew that it needed to go.
I had all the what ifs, valid reasons why we should keep it, and all the good things I could use it for.
But at the end of the day, it was still stealing our time and attention away from the things we really believe matter most.
So here are a few things I have noticed, thoughts I have had, and ways our life has changed since removing the TV from our home:
We talk more during meals.
We spend way less time watching anything. Occasionally, we will plan to watch an episode of a show at night, but it is no longer the norm of our evenings.
We are reading more!
We are saving money! When we had a TV, it was much more of a temptation to get different streaming services or buy a movie to watch.
We no longer turn a show on mindlessly or leave it on in the background.
If there is something we really want to see (Tennessee football coming up this fall), we have to go somewhere to watch it. This encourages us to get out of the house, meet people, and foster community. And this is so good, especially being in a new city!
We are outside more! Because our evenings aren’t automatically spent watching something, we spend way more time walking or biking outside, especially at night.
Watching a show on a small screen like an iPad simply isn’t as stimulating, addicting, or enthralling as watching something on a giant screen. It is a lot easier to just turn off and put away.
Watching is no longer passive but intentional.
We are more creative. We have been working on things we want to learn and spending more time on our hobbies.
Overall, I feel like there is more margin, more silence, and more presence in our home. I feel like we are doing more of the things that are important to us. We are having conversations around things that we deeply care about. We are making plans to spend time with others. We are listening more to ourselves and to one another.
And mostly importantly, we are able to hear the voice of Jesus more clearly in the quiet.
The Questions
I am not necessarily saying you should get rid of your TV. I think there are wonderful reasons to have one, and it can be an especially wonderful hospitality tool for movie nights and game day parties and more.
But, I do want to encourage you to at least ask yourself…
What value is the TV bringing to my life?
What value is it detracting?
So, is it worth it?
Thank you so much for reading!
Take care,
Caroline
#noTVlife