Three months tv free

This weekend marks the end of our first three months in Grenada. It also marks three months since I have had a tv in my home! While the internet is going to make tv irrelevant at some point, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on what it is like not to take a daily dose of tv.

To be transparent we do have movie night every Friday, where we either stream from Netflixs or we brought a bunch of movies with us. We also ODed on Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D as a family. And for the past two Sundays we have found a stream to watch the CFL and tomorrow is Grey Cup so we will find a way to watch that! Everything is watched on my laptop screen, which is hysterical when I think about the size of tv at home. Just to be clear size does not matter, it is nice for sure, but watching Hamilton move onto the Grey Cup was just as satisfying on the laptop!

What we don't have is a tv, technically we do, but we are storing the one that was here in Aiden's bedroom. It is more of a coffee table right now. So unlike so many homes a tv does not dominate our living room or bedrooms. In fact I have seen tv only four times here. First CNN when Rob Ford withdrew from the Mayoral race, I let out a little cheer at my luck of being near a tv. The next three times was the day that Cpl Nathan Cirillo was murdered. We saw a tv as we were walking down to Port Louis at this tiny little store/bar which was playing CNN and then at the Port and then we watched Prime Minister Harper's address on CTV.

So apart from these, no tv. Do I miss it? Not at all. Having done my undergraduate degree in Communications, Culture & Information Technology I was keenly aware that the media you consume has a huge impact on how you see the world and the opinions you form about that world. It is one of the main reasons people (wrongly) believe that crime rates are going up. When you are fed a steady diet of shootings, stabbings, rapes, Jian Gomeshi and then add on ER, police, fire dramas your brain begins to think that the world is really dangerous.

I find my dreams are much more peaceful here. I never wake up here with bad dreams or sad dreams. Only once has one of the boys had a bad dream and Brent is actually dreaming here, something he never remembers doing in Canada. When your brain isn't constantly bombarded with images, it frees it up to create it's own stories.

Not only are my dreams more peaceful but my mind does not race in the evenings. At first I attributed this to a more "relaxed" atmosphere. But my work is more challenging (because it is new to me), my drive into work is not for the faint of heart and it seems I am busier here with both house work and shopping than I am in Canada. So it is not a slower pace of life or decreased responsibility because both of these are more than in Canada. The difference is how I consume media.

I do read the news everyday, both Canadian and Grenadian. However when you read you decide what you consume, it is active rather than passive. I also visit this site http://www.viralnova.com/ daily. It has interesting and quirky stories that are often about positive changes. Like this one about a Russian artist transforming urban decay into pieces of art that you would stumble across! So if do chose to read about Jian I can then pop over and read something uplifting.

We are also all reading a lot more, which expands your mind and your point of view. The Kobos make it easy to get books, and the addition of the Mt. Zion Library is creating a positive wave of literacy in our community. As an example at the boy's school the library was destroyed with hurricane Ivan (this is the same for almost every  school on the island). They are now rebuilding it and with donations from Hands Across the Sea they will have books to place in it. Hands Across the Sea has also helped the Mt. Zion Library as has our very own Friends of the Library from Quinte West! They have a barrel of books on route to support Mt. Zion library. As Margaret Mead said "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Part of me wonders if why the culture here has not moved forward they way it has in other places is because of the destruction of all the libraries. My colleague Mrs. Douglas spoke wistfully the other day about her father reading every book in the library where they lived. But it was destroyed and never rebuilt.

About one hour of sun before it goes behind the hills

And of course we are outside more. I am sitting out on my back deck writing and we go out to the beach (or try to) three times a week. Weekends we will often go on long walks with back packs and aqua packs to get provisions from the market.  Definitely nicer than siting in front of a tv! The other thing it does is pushes dinner back. The sun goes down at 5:30 so you want to be in the ocean until the last possible second so we often aren't home until 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. and thus find ourselves eating at 6:30 and sometimes even 7:00 p.m.

Our time is our own as well. I realize with PVRs most people now watch their shows when they want, but not feeling tied down to wanting/needing to watch a show like Amazing Race the night it airs, leaves your whole evening free. I now realize how Sunday nights were rushed as we made sure we had dinner done and kids ready for bed so we could watch Once Upon A Time or Mondays when we would watch the taped Amazing Race. There is nothing that anyone is missing and shows we used to love, aren't even a consideration.

So for those who have trouble sleeping or are feeling stressed out, I really encourage you to turn off the tvs and see if a month without a tv doesn't make you feel more relaxed and restful. I know it has for all of us.