Your Mind Your Body

Some thoughts about television viewing in our country

• “You watch television to turn your brain off and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on.”
  – Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer and Pixar, in Macworld Magazine, February 2004
•  ”American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV.”
  – The Kaiser Family Foundation
• “They put an off button on the TV for a reason. Turn it off . . . I really don’t watch much TV.”
  – President George W. Bush, C-SPAN interview, January 2005
• “Do you know we are ruled by TV?”
  – from the poem An American Prayer by Jim Morrison

 A challenge for the day

I am an avid reader. I average about 1 book per week.  I think that has made this (almost) TV-free week easier for me because it is natural for me to pick up a book instead.  But for some folks (for example, my husband who insists he forgot to read after graduate school) the joy of reading doesn’t come as easily.  So, if you are one of those that needs a little extra prompting to pick up a book or magazine, here are some benefits of reading you may not have thought of:

• The book is ALWAYS better than the movie
• Reading provides more mental exercise  than listening to a CD or watching a movie
• Mental activities can help keep our brains sharp and healthy
• Being able to quote great literature is super cool and impresses people
• Reading can be an excellent way to relieve stress
• Need ideas about where to begin?  Check out your local library.  Need ideas about specific titles to try? Check out Amazon’s top 100 sellers

 Some reflections

So, we got it…books are great.  I’m not sure that I can call my reading material of the last few days fine literature, but it has certainly kept my attention.  Actually, I think I have developed an unhealthy obsession with Bella, Edward, and Jacob of the Twilight Saga…but I will leave that for another post.

Filed under: Lifestyle & Behaviors, Parenting, Stress, Uncategorized, Women