I watch a lot of television shows and I mean A LOT. Over the course of a year, there are probably 30 or so that I’ll tune into. Some I’ve been following for a long time, while others I’ve picked up more recently. But I became aware of something lately that precipitated a change in this area of my life and that was to stop following shows that no longer feel like they mesh with my growing spiritual values.
Most of the TV programming I follow nowadays is either science fiction or fantasy based, with two notable exceptions of a recovery from addiction sitcom named “Mom” and a Sherlock Holmes show named “Elementary”. Except for those two, there are a number of others I’ve been watching for awhile now that I no longer have any interest in, mainly because they aren’t generating any good spiritual feelings within me after viewing them.
The last thing I want to do is watch something on TV that promotes unhealthy behaviors like gossip, greed, envy, jealousy, backstabbing, violence, lust, ego, fear and more. I find that when I’m watching programs that glorify these things, I tend to slide back into those behaviors or become more negative in my overall attitude in life.
This is specifically why I stopped watching “The Originals” on the CW recently. The show centered on a vampire named Klaus who was constantly afraid of people taking away his power. Week in and week out his only concern was to protect his perceived power through conniving and killing. I grew quite weary of the unnecessary bloodshed and ego from him and others in the series and finally decided I had enough.
Since removing this show, I’ve felt so much better and gone on to do the same with a few others too. I definitely plan to continue this behavior from now on. After all, following a television show week after week, year after year, hoping it’s going to get better is a lot like staying in a relationship with someone who’s toxic and not working on themselves, all the while living with the hope they’ll eventually get better, but never do.
As for the TV series I’ve chosen to stick with, well, the truth is each of them are about people that are trying to do good in this world, who regularly play a hero that always attempts to save the day and protect the innocent. Shows like The Flash, Arrow, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Forever, and Daredevil are the first ones that come to mind, and while each may carry some violence, their overall theme is about saving the world from the darkness that exists within it and bringing about more light.
The bottom line though is that I don’t want to watch programs on TV anymore that leave me feeling more irritable and frustrated, or anything else that’s not healthy for me. I’d rather spend my time tuning into the ones that help me to feel better about myself, that truly uplift me, and lead me further down the spiritual path I’m doing my best to remain on in life…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson