Free Yourself from the Program

Television (and other media) programming is aptly named. When you expose yourself to excessive amounts of TV programming, you are allowing the establishment to instill beliefs, values and ways of thinking and being that trap you in fear and passivity. For decades, so much of popular culture and family life has revolved around TV. In almost 100 years, it has grown from an occasional family past-time to an integral part of living where the majority of our waking hours are spent in front of a screen.

After giving up TV—not only watching it, but physically removing the appliance from your home—you open to experiencing a renewal of space, time and energy that leads to deeper self-discovery, more relaxation and increased freedom and joy. Let’s take a look at a few ways in which TV can be an obstacle that stands in the way of you living your best life:

1. Stagnates the flow of your life force energy. TV lures you into a mode of nonparticipation in creating your future, and instead beckons you with hours of passive entertainment through conjured characters and stories that program our subconscious minds with negative thoughts and beliefs instead of empowering us to think for ourselves.
2. Proliferates the illusion of fear, separation and competition. TV pumps the ideology of fear and competition into our homes through 24/7 political and news channels, reality TV and competitive sports that keep you in the low vibe of conflict, comparison and judgement, and addicted to a competitive culture where winning or losing is at the heart of enjoyment. Meanwhile, obtrusive advertisements interrupt your experience in a constant reminder that you’re not good enough, beautiful enough, thin enough, rich enough, smart enough, healthy enough or you’re missing out on something.
3. Demands the center of attention in your home. TV physically depletes energy from your living space—when unused, the dark rectangle absorbs light and commands the center of attention in any room. The more we gather together, sitting and staring mindlessly at the rectangle mounted to the wall (or the Smartphone or tablet version we hold in our hand), telling us what to think and how to behave, the less we connect and relate with one another, ourselves and the aspects of life that matter.
4. Normalizes pain, fear and negativity. TV normalizes crime, hatred, fear, sickness and violence, encouraging us to be afraid and suspicious of others. Violent imagery corrupts the mind with a twisted, dark version of people and relationships that taints our view of reality.
5. Sabotages our health and wellness. Hours spent sitting while binge watching and snacking are detrimental to our bodies, which, to be healthy, benefit from intentional instead of mindless eating along with regular bouts of activity.
6. Keeps you relying on the outer world instead of developing your inner world. TV reduces your signal to your higher self by having you believe the only way to find answers, relaxation, entertainment—or anything—is outside instead of within. This could not be farther from the truth.

When you give up TV, you get:

• Greater creativity, activity and opportunity—without TV, you must fill your time with meaningful activities that lift your mind, move your body and engage your spirit.
• The art and beauty back into your life. You evolve from being a passive viewer to an active creator of your life by listening to music; practicing self-care; preparing healthy and delicious food; creating beauty in your home environment; laughing with loved ones; appreciating nature or taking part in your hobbies.
• Greater sensitivity to all negative frequencies in any stimulus you take in, from the people you surround yourself with to the music you listen to. This heightened level of discernment positions you to refine and own your vibration and increasingly reject anything or anyone who lowers it.
• The ability to raise the frequency of your home environment in meaningful ways that create love and belonging with others, deepening the home as your sanctuary while strengthening the bonds you share with your loved ones.
• Freedom from the constant bombardment of advertising and as a result, less exposure to and interest in material pursuits and less desire to buy more things that you probably do not need.
• Meaningful use of time. The passage of time seems to slow when you are engaged in activity, and at the end of a weekend that you may have otherwise spent binge-watching your favorite series, with real activities, you have something creative and meaningful to show for the time spent.
• More possibilities to arrange your living space. Every day you pass through a living room or family room without a TV, you are reminded that the priority in your home is on nurturing the talents and desires of the people who live there. YOU have the agency to define what your version of the world will look, feel and sound like, instead of what the rectangle dictates for the masses.

Because we grew up gathered around the rectangle with our families, we have the false perception that it’s normal to stare at it for hours each day, or that we need it to help us unplug, relax and unwind. But it actually does the opposite: it corrupts the programs in our subconscious, locking us into an anxious and irritated state of being, where we are fearful of each other, operating from lack, and desperately worried about the future. Without TV, true relaxation becomes a possibility. And so does self-discovery: when you tune IN to yourself  (especially through regular meditation), you’ll find you have less of a desire to escape or tune OUT of day-to-day life by turning on the TV.

A few questions to ponder: How much does TV consume your life? What value do you get from it? What new skills or capabilities do you have to show for the investment of hours you’ve put in? What could you have accomplished in the hours that you watched TV last night? Last week?

Depending on how addicted you are to sitting in front of the rectangle, it may be unrealistic to go cold turkey. If you’re curious to give it a try, see if you can dedicate a few nights each week to no TV, then gradually increase. Or, perhaps move the TV to a room in your house where it is less accessible and you are less inclined to mindlessly turn it on while walking by. Then notice any changes in your attitude, mood or appetite without TV in your life. See if you notice yourself thinking more critically and curiously than before. See if you feel different in any way.

After a few weeks or months without it, you may begin to wonder how you spent all that time passively tuned in to the programming that was designed to distract you from remembering yourself as the divine being that you truly are. Once the TV is completely gone from your life, you will begin to feel the freedom of your organic and natural way of being in the world. As for me, I ditched mine in 2017, and I never once looked back.