The Psychology of Dumping Internet
I've recently cut the cord of cable TV and internet in my home. It's an experiment to see what will happen. I've thought short and soft about it (opposite of hard and long?) and that's what I'm going to do.
Since I got my email notice from Comcast thanking me for being a great customer and saying they'll welcome me back, I've been thinking about why it took me a year to do the inevitable.
I've visited the Psychology Today website for helpful hints in the past, and this article gets me closer to my answer (but not all the way.)
Your Closets, Your Clutter, and Your Cognitions
Organizer Regina Leeds tells all!
Posted Feb 29, 2012
Here I'm examining the silent yells of my brain to return to the comfort of TV and internet. Why do I feel the way I do? What can I do about these nagging thoughts that I NEED TV and internet? How do I turn that off?
Here's one clue "The roots of our ability to organize begin at a young age through the modeling and messages we receive from our parents." When I called my parents and told them the news, they were encouraging! But, they were filled with questions. "What are you going to do?" I told them I didn't know. Maybe the library will be open up late enough, maybe I'll have to plan ahead and visit the library on weekends, or request books online to pick them up. Maybe I'll get a Kindle with a book subscription? (Probably not, I like physical books better.) Maybe I'll invest in a nice radio system and listen to some of that new fangled rock'n'roll?
Whatever happens, I'll write about it and reflect what I should do next.
Still, I think "Have I just been conditioned to having the luxury of internet and tv?" That could be just one piece.
Answering, "what is the fate?"
Maybe this is what's causing the nagging in my mind. Not knowing the outcome can be frightening. Luckily I've already cleared that hurdle and have made the decision to dump internet and TV.
How about this cause of my internal naggin "When we don't know what to do with our items, we stash it."
This is a good cause of what could be causing some anxiety. It takes a special kind of person to acquire something, judge its usefulness, and then discard it. Most of us will just collect and stash.
Ultimately, I'm stuck in my own head of what will happen next. Will I cave when NFL season or ESPN College Gameday comes back on? Will I experience withdrawal? Will the lack of usefulness of my "Smart" tv cause me to feel guilt that I didn't search for a TV without apps?
I think the unknown is what is most exciting. The TV/internet bundle was a cluttered closet. Right now I feel a freedom that I haven't felt when I first got cable TV in 2000. I'm no longer entertained like I once was. Maybe that's what I needed all along.
