I’ve been reading a bit about Jungian psychology lately, and while I certainly don’t agree with where he takes things on the religious side of things, I think he is spot on about the unconscious.
One thing that he explains is that in each of us lies unfulfilled aspects of our self that are crying out to be fulfilled, but due to social reasons, they are squelched. While some people are too inhibited to act on their internal needs – or perhaps don’t even know what they are – one way that some of the books recommended to feel fulfilled is using your imagination in those areas where you want to have some type of actual experience. Apparently, the mind can find this just as fulfilling as actual action.
I realized that, in truth, this is why TV is so addictive.
Watching TV allows us to escape to those areas of our own unfulfilled life. Meaning that as we drop our boundaries as we watch TV, and project ourselves on the characters, we actually get to vicariously live the life of those people on TV. We get to leave our boring, dull life for a little while, and become a hero, or sexy, or have some drama in our life (don’t we have enough already?). We get our fix, then we can move on with our own regular lives.
Problem is that, as you know, TV is never really fulfilling. It just leaves you wanting more. However, one thing that I realized is that by looking at what you like to watch, you can figure out those areas of your life that are unfulfilled, and then turn it around, and figure out how to better be fulfilled through actual LIFE EXPERIENCES! Pretty cool, huh.
It’s funny, but when I moved in to my house recently, I decided not to buy a TV. Now, I used to have a 65″ flat screen, and a 120″ projector in my basement. So I was very much a TV guy. It was kind of my hobby, you might say.
It’s been about four months now, and honestly, with the exception of missing a little football, I haven’t missed it all that much. Of course, I might buy one tomorrow, but then it would just be to figure out where in my life I am craving action. 🙂