I Bought a TV for the first time in 20 Years, here's why...

Nov '23 (edited) • EMOTIONS

It has been a decision many months in the making but I just bought myself a TV for the first time since I was a teenager wanting to play video games in my bedroom.

Of course I've still watched tv, shows on my laptop, sport on my iPad, YouTube on my phone - and I have even owned a projector and streamed movies on it. I've just not had a black mirror sitting in any room I've lived in, creating an eerie lopsided vortex of energy in the space.

Well yesterday I challenged that and went into Curry's and walked out with a 55inch OLED Samsung TV.

So why the change of heart?

Lately I've been finding myself on some evenings going down youtube binge rabbit holes. Channels like Veritasium, Tom Scott, The Internet Historian, Atrocity Guide (to name a few).

The algorithm has gotten so good at feeding me edu-tainment channels that I quite enjoy and makes me feel like I'm learning something too.

Now watching these channels in themselves I don't think is bad, and everything in moderation and at the right time. The main thing I noticed though while these are all intellectually stimulating besides the odd funny moments giving me a chuckle I wasn't really FEELING much other then an addictive kind of satisfaction.

It's hard in a 10-20minute video to get emotionally invested and frankly youtube mostly isn't about that type of content (though of course there is still good emotive content on there).

I know when I am in a bit more of an open/soft space emotionally and I watch a good movie, or get really invested in a set of characters in a tv show it helps me to feel and access my own feelings – wether they're of sympathy or because the moments are relatable to my own life and relationships.

Maybe a first world problem but watching shows or movies on my laptop just isn't the same, it's close up, small and it's my work station. On a TV I can unplug for the evening, airplane mode my phone and fully immerse myself in whatever I am choosing to watch (that's the plan at least).

Especially with these longer, cold nights it gives me the opportunity to do something that is emotionally stimulating and soulfully productive rather then just doom scrolling.

So I'm swapping one screen for another, with the intention to find shows and movies that stir something inside of me, to help keep E(nergy in)-MOTION.

It's an experiment, trying something new, challenging my own rules - I'm still not sure how I feel about it to be honest - I could fall into deep addictions binging shows and avoiding life all winter, certainly a possibility I fear a little.

Anyway, not here to tell you to get one if you don't have one, I have total respect for whatever people chose around this subject. Just wanted to share a change and possibly a big decision I just made with you all.

Out of curiosity and to make this a conversation...

Do you have a TV?

What are your viewing habits like?

Can you recommend any TV Shows or Movies that bring up emotion strongly for you?

I'm currently watching "Normal People' on

@Brian McGowan

recommendation and it's been great so far. Also working through 'The Chosen'.

Thanks for reading,

Tim

p.s. having said that about youtube I did have a little cry watching this vid yesterday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVF7LCzNV4s

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