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di's Insite
Entertaining Ourselves
In today's technology filled world, we are surrounded by entertainment. VCRs and DVDs make it easy to sit back and wait for the excitement/amusement/emotions to arrive without us ever leaving home. Music surrounds us wherever we go, be it elevator or grocery shopping! Sometimes I ponder the theory of conspiracy-- who doesn't want us spending time thinking for ourselves? Could it be a plot of big business to keep us forking over money for the latest model of our toys? It doesn't take much of my imagination to speculate the planning of some wizard Satan who wants to keep us from thinking on our daily lives by filling it with electronic entertainments. I don't think he would be surprised to find out we think on our lives anyway-- his plan would be to have it so hectic, we want escape at his price-- another toy to entertain us!
Perhaps this is stretching my imagination, but someone is getting rich on keeping us entertained. I don't mean there is just one person in one big business wants to be rich; money drives the minds of the world. And in case you think I am objecting, I am not minding it at all. I have this faith in mankind that our ability to entertain ourselves is so ingrained, we use it more than we realize.
It may be far fetched to some to entertain the idea of some master controller, yet that thought has been in the minds of mankind for generations in religion. With the idea of a master controller, comes the thought of an evil or good one. Writers have written about evil in every form and sold millions of copies when the suspense has intrigued their readers. So it isn't a new idea I have on mind control. I just got to thinking of it when thinking of entertainment.
Entertainment is supposed to help us relax and soothe away the day's stress. Being human, we sometimes find it hard to leave such pleasures! We all know what a couch potato is or a computer addict....I am grinning at my own addiction to the web. Some take our pleasures of a "too much of a good thing" and try to make it sound evil. Oh, it may not be good for us all the time-- you can witness our obesity or obsessions easily anywhere. But what I am worried about, are we finding it more difficult to entertain ourselves without our electronic toys?
I see lives all around me that are so filled with careers and daily duties that the energy to entertain themselves comes only in an occasional joke or laugh at someone else's blunders. We do need to laugh at ourselves and share our silly experiences! It reminds us we are still human and have not turned into a remote control. Yet I have noticed kids are more and more relying on something to entertain them. I hear about people sitting back in front of their TV's and stereos, giving up a job search or trying to escape the stress of low income. I see high income families, filling their kids lives with more electronic entertainment so the parents can work more, which in turn, allows for more electronic toys for the kids!
I am warmed with the thought of daycares that promote creative crafts-- it gets the kids away from the TV. It also starts a life long habit of looking for a hobby to have something to discuss with our fellow peers and to escape our stress. Employers look for those who have outside interests. It keeps our people skills toned. Parents who have their children involved in activities that promote exercise are to be applauded too.
When I was a young girl, TV didn't have so many choices of channels to watch. Besides, I wasn't allowed to turn it on whenever I chose. My innate sense of a need for diversion, brought out my ability to entertain myself. Well, sometimes my sister would help!
We joined our friends in board games and created clubs or hiking excursions to nearby parks. But what I loved most, was when we had to find a creative way to entertain ourselves at home. Being the offspring of a story telling mother, we naturally made up stories. Our imaginations sometimes ran on fast speed forward without the need of a VCR! And we talked our stories out loud, speaking together at once but hearing it as one. Our humor is well known now because when we were young, we honed it finely till laughter was such a release, we wanted more.
Self-entertainment is like receiving a large box of a variety chocolates-- you are delighted to have such an assortment to choose from. We chose story telling, acting out the characters till our howls of laughter brought Mom to our door, wondering what we were up to now! Sometimes our racing thoughts were so intoned that she laughed with us, still not knowing just how the story got started. I am sure she felt warmed by our sisterhood. Our tongues couldn't move fast enough for our creative minds-- we overlapped our words and raced to outdo the other in a creative scene our minds insisted were there. We gave people we knew much more creative personalities and made up plots with voices and expressions entwined in a play. Yes, we escaped our ordinary lives by entertaining ourselves. Experience has taught me that some cannot do that. Try getting a group of people telling a round-robin story that is humorous-- there will be a few who take over the characters and others who will sit back and laugh at the entertainment! That is a good thing for us ego-hungry actors and writers-- I just wish the audience could experience the ultimate thrill of entertaining themselves too.
I conclude this with a thought challenge for you: do your electronic toys promote your creativity? Do you grow despondent when it breaks? Have you lately tried to entertain yourself or your family without those electronic toys?
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© 2002 di
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