My New Year’s resolution was to add joy to the world, not see what joy I could get out of it. Part of adding meant writing.

Between Suzie and I, my Mom, our son and two dogs, I needed space to write without distraction and with a full house there was only one place left. Yep, the room with the television. So, I moved the cable box out and turned it off to see what would happen.

Nothing. Nothing at all happened.

It was boring and long and quiet and eventually sad. It wasn’t the lack of TV that was sad. It was the long stretch of me doing nothing with no excuses.

Except think, a lot of thinking was going on. Then I had a mind-bending, future-changing thought.

I realized I’d always been doing nothing. I was just doing it with the TV on.

Now, when I’m staring off into space with a blank look, I’m not doing nothing. I’m writing. Though it looks almost the same it’s anything but.

I’m contributing, not consuming. I’m trying to add the joy instead of flipping channels to the next distraction.

I’m serious about my New Year’s goal. I still watch TV with Suzie. But I watch it less and only the shows we love and only after I’ve done something good.

But things have changed. Nothing never happens at my house anymore. There’s always something.

 


 

Photo Credit: jambina via Compfight cc