Recently, I haven’t been watching TV.
To some of you, that statement may seem mundane. Perhaps to those of you who grew up without cable, or those of you who choose to spend your evenings making meaningful strides towards proficiency in a favorite hobby. But to me, Grace Ramsey, queen of the binge-watch, this change constitutes a polar shift in my state of being. I once viewed the entirety of ‘The Sopranos’ in two weeks while working a full-time job. Watching TV, for better or worse, has been a large part of my life since I was little. I especially love a good Netflix reality show. I have oft been asked why an educated woman such as myself would spend her nights watching wine-drunk contestants vie for scripted love? ‘Simple’ I always reply. ‘Reality TV is beautiful because no matter how much as of a mess your life is, when you watch an episode of reality TV you think ‘At least I’m not as much of a disaster as these people.’
And yet, a couple of weeks ago a new season of “Love is Blind” was released on Netflix and I barely batted an eye. To date, I still have yet to watch a single episode.
What brought on this sudden change? Is it perhaps a sign of growth? Have I garnered enough self-confidence through therapy that I no longer feel the need to compare myself to strangers on? Or is a sign of depression that I can’t even motivate myself to do the one thing most commonly thought of as the “lazy” way to spend an evening? One thing is clear: The Simple Life I once knew appears to be gone for good.