Get Thee Behind Me, Television!

I often get looks of pity from people when I tell them I rarely watch TV. "What? You're missing out on Lost? American Idol? Monster truck races?"

It's not that I don't like TV. While I'd have to say that two-thirds of what's on these days is silly and not my cup-of-tea, there *are* good programs that I like and enjoy watching. Put a good murder mystery on, or show a great old movie, or do a nature special and I'd love to be there more often.

So why don't I?

Watching television saps the creative energy right out of me. It's as if there's a magnet inside the television. Turn the TV on and the magnet turns on, too. Any bit of inspiration, energy, and creative drive I have for the day is sucked right out of my body and released into the ether, perhaps never to be seen again. It's frightening.

And frightening not only for the implications of what it does to my writing, but for what it must be doing to children who watch *way* too much television these days. Is all their creativity drying up as well?

I wonder what wonderful works of art, literature, and invention we may miss out on in the future because our children's minds have been sucked dry by a rectangular box.

And now that I've run the risk of sounding like a Luddite or an old fogey (or maybe both), I'll just say it's a sad thought, and leave it there.