The combination of cable television, a greatly curtailed rolodex, and the cooling temperatures leads me to watch the strangest things. I am actually, at heart, a clicker. 30+ years of no cable make me consume tv like a starving person at a Ponderosa, some of this, some of this, some of this- for hours. Lately I’ve found myself enjoying things that at best confused me in the past. Reba, Two and Half Men, etc.
In recent weeks this has reached a peak with my consumption of HOURS of HGTV programs. These are the most boring programs you can imagine. Look, another bathroom! This seems kind of small! Is there a master suite??? NO! THE HORRORS!!!!!!
Oddly, many of these programs are imported from Canada, although they try to pretend they aren’t. Weird. There is one called Real Estate Intervention where this awful basketball coach looking man makes people cry by telling them that the house they bought at the exact wrong time (after watching too much HGTV, one assumes) is now worth $100000 less than what they paid for it. You watch these women’s face’s crumble as they realize they’ve lost all their money.
Why do I enjoy this? It’s like watching a linebacker puke into the astroturf- makes you feel like something real is going on. Instead of getting off the couch and making something happen oneself…
One interesting suggestion i read for developing generosity starts off simple: try passing a beloved object from your left hand to your right. Even that tiny transfer can pull your heart if the object is very precious. From there perhaps you can build up to greater acts of generosity. Imagine giving away the most valuable thing you own! OUCH!
Another thing I’ve been holding onto is the idea that at any moment I might leave the country, meet the man or woman of my dreams and relocate to New Mexico or Old Mexico, or SF or the island of Elba. This despite the fact that in NYC I worked for the same place and lived in one neighborhood for 6 years (not, actually, the free spirit I imagine myself to be.)
