Reading through Wired’s “Rants and Raves” today (Second Item), I caught a bit that really clicked with me:
I am weaning myself from the (media – movies, TV, copyrighted music) addiction: I don’t watch television (at all — no cable, never will) and use my Netflix account less and less. Sure it’s extreme, but I use the time to read with my daughters, take walks with my wife and think on life a bit. Heck, I don’t know where I’d find time for TV. I have found I like “doing” much more than “watching.”
It’s kind of a mental response to the “Fast Food Nation” syndrome. As a lot of the RBF is discovering, the only barrier to improving fitness is getting one’s butt out the door. I’m guessing that the correlary is that the only barrier to doing pretty much anything you want is (picking up a pencil, going to the library, dusting off the camera, asking for help…). Go meet your neighbors (something I still need to work on)
I’m still working on “doing” more than “watching”. Luckily, it’s a self-reinforcing feedback.
The more expensive and restrictive existing media industries make mass-produced content, the more satisfied we will be with brew-your-own. What’s waiting inside you?
(And again, it’s a shameless ripoff of Brogan’s “Big Idea” meme. While I’m at it, this impacted directly a project at work. Thanks)