Good Day Everyone,
Ever since I left home at 18 I have always had a television
(TV). More specifically, I have always had the television on. Whether I was living
in student halls, flat share, with my hubby, in a hotel or even on my own, the
television has always been on! Turning the television on was typically one of
the first things I would do when I woke up or when I came home.
This was never because I loved to watch TV, but
more because I liked the sound of people’s voices, it made me feel less alone
(especially when I had to live on my own). I was less likely to hear creaky
sounds that had the capacity to send, my already overactive imagination, into
overdrive and completely freak me out (or worse still give myself a heart
attack, as such is my jumpy disposition). Radio just wasn’t the same, I not only needed to hear
the people, I also needed to see them, even if it was just from
the corner of my eye whilst I was doing something else, in order for me to feel
that I wasn’t on my own.
When we moved to Singapore in 2011 we stayed in a serviced
apartment that had a TV with local channels. We didn’t really enjoy many of the
channels. So when we moved into our own condo/flat I managed to persuade my
hubby (albeit with some difficulty) to try life without a TV.
 |
| View from our balcony |
 |
| Sky & sea changing colours at sunset |
Over 2 years later and we can both say it was one of the best
decisions we ever made! We’ve found that we spend more time talking and
listening to each other about our day, supper is had at the dining table at a
more leisurely pace (instead of rushing to get back in front of the TV to watch
some show), we listen to a lot more music and have discovered a lot about each
others taste in music. We are lucky to live by the coast with a gorgeous sea
view and sometimes we just sit and watch the sea changing colours as a storm
approaches (we get the most amazing lightning bolts), we watch the sky, especially at sunset, and the stars at night. All
the ships and boats out at sea light up at night and every night there’s a
different scene of lights and colours to see – I love it! Personally, I have also found it a lot more calming
(mentally) to not have the sound of lots of voices in our home (shock horror or
what) and wait for it... I actually really enjoy the silence (maybe I’m
getting old ;o)).
 |
| A storm approaching from Indonesia |
Now I’m not saying that we don’t watch anything at all. We both
have laptops/ipads/iphones etc. I still (and I’m not ashamed to admit it) watch
Eastenders and Coronation Street (UK soaps/dramas for all you non-Brits). They
make me feel close to home because of the British accents. We watch movies and read the news on our laptops. The great
thing about watching programmes on our laptops is that we watch just the programme
we want to watch and then it’s turned off! It’s not like having a TV on constantly in the
background.
Now when I watch TV in a hotel on holiday, it’s quite a
novelty, a bit of a treat and that’s the things with treats – if you have them
all the time, they no longer feel like a (naughty) treat and I’m happy for the TV to stay
as a treat. We’d like to think that we will continue life without a TV
for many more years to come. I feel the longer we go without a TV the less
likely we are to ever have one again. We’re getting too used to enjoying the
peace and quiet. However, never say never as this could all change if, for
example, we have children or we move to another condo or country where we don’t
have such a beautiful view to stare at.
Could you ever live without a TV? Have you ever tried it?
Would you try it even if it’s just for a week or a month, just out of curiosity?
What do you think you would do with that time where you would normally be
watching TV?
Love Sheen xxx
