Yup I finally did it, I agreed to get rid of our Dish Network! No more prime time TV. No more channel flipping. No more easy access to mindless watching. It is the best thing we’ve done all year! OK, so we are only in month 3 of this year, but seriously this is an amazing discovery.
My husband had been suggesting it for years. But as my health decreased in the last few years I was able to do little else. Until recently, I wasn’t able to read for more than a few minutes. So being able to listen and watch (even if it was blurry) was something entertaining to do. I did try to make decent TV choices.
We haven’t actually put the TV to the curb. We did get Hulu and have instant Netflix. However, our TV watching has dramatically gone down. We now spend more time in the living room reading. My son has been going through different series books like crazy. My husband and daughter have been reading through a few different books and discussing them. I have been journaling more, connecting with the huge Lyme community (which until recently I didn’t know existed) and I have been reading more.
As I mentioned some of my symptoms from Lyme have greatly improved from the last couple years. I am still very sick and cannot do much in a day, but I am not having short term memory loss, difficulty concentrating and not nearly as much blurry vision. That was awful to struggle with. Now that I free of those conditions I want to celebrate by USING my brain!! It has been so fun getting to read and retain the information! Now that I have my mind nearly back, I figured it would be great for me to start learning some of the stuff I missed out learning in college. My health kept me from completing college year after year. This year 2011, I want to learn new things, expand my mind. In future blogs I will share some of what I am gleaning from different books I am getting to read.
I just started reading Keirkagaard For Beginners. Wow, I didn’t realize existentialism isn’t a scary thing. I thought it was a lofty philosophy thing that I wouldn’t be able to understand and it would just make my head hurt. Well, maybe reading Keirkagaards writings would certainly do that. So it is good I am starting with this beginners book-it even has drawings on each page and uses humor! It is MY kind of book!
I do love the idea that subjective truth asks the question "How?" and looks to see the way a person answers by their actions not merely what they say. This has been a truth I have seen beautifully since my diagnosis with Lyme Disease. When I became more honest about the depth of my debilitating struggles due to my Lyme, friends responded. I had to become a person willing to question and look into what was going on with my body even when objectively it appeared I should stop looking for something different than what was before me. I had answers from my set of 5 doctors who were treating me for various ailments. Yet my experiences said that is NOT the truth. I am glad I was able to question, get a Lyme diagnosis and begin to heal. I can now relax into the fact that I am sick in ways that most don't understand. Now throughout each day, I am able to see small things worth smiling about. My actions show I am a grateful person. Who knew that all stems from Kierkagaards philosophy?
