Media Detox

Detox is so hot right now. There's the 21-day liquid detox diet, and you can now buy a foot bath claiming to detoxify your body. I'm not one for carrot juice, and I'm a little scared what about what scary stuff would come out of my feet. However, there is a detox I'm willing to try.

I want to detox from media. Specifically the television. Since college I have watched very little tv, but it seems that the little I watch now could be cut back further. Staying at home much of the day it becomes easy to develop bad habits. Before long I know the time and channel for Good Morning America, Regis and Kelly, The View, Dr. Phil, Jeopardy, and Oprah. I don't watch these everyday, not even close, but after a whirlwind morning it's all too easy to plop down during nap time and turn on the television.

In order to detox from media I need to supplement with something a bit more nourishing. In this case, I'm going to try to read more. I very much enjoy reading, but I've accepted that much of my reading is done to be more of a challenge than something I do for enjoyment. That is, in the past five years I've been reading books just to check them off my list, mostly classics. Gone with the Wind was an incredible book I couldn't put down, but I started it just to see if I could get through it. That goes for a multitude of others from Theology of the Body to War and Peace. That being said, some of these took a couple months to get through. I want to read for fun for a little while.

My first books will be the complete Chronicles of Narnia, which I've never read. Because it's easier to watch tv with a baby around than read a book, I'm sure I'll be working on these for awhile. Who knows, maybe afterwards I'll be ready for Nicholas Sparks. Harry Potter and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants might be calling my name, too.