TV Can Be Turned Off, But Not Books

While vacationing a few hundred miles from home, in the friendly confines of beach-laden Cape Cod, my wife and I turned off the television.  We didn’t watch any TV or see any movies and I have to say we didn’t miss it at all.  We read books and newspapers – along with taking nature in.  It was a nice reprieve from our day-to-day lives.  It wasn’t all rest and relaxation – we had two young kids to entertain – but to be screen-free was liberating.  Even time on our cell phones was at a minimum.

You hear other people say the same thing – that they turned off the electronics for a vacation and didn’t feel the worse off for it.  But most people don’t say, “Oh, I went on a vacation and didn’t read a thing.”  That should tell you something.

Books are so valuable to the lives we lead.  But TV and movies, as entertaining as they may be, can be shut off from time to time.  But books are always with us – whether we read for school, work, or pure pleasure – or simply to learn things.  They are with us on modes of transportation, on vacations, in bed, in our homes, at the coffee house, on a park bench, at the beach, and really anywhere you need or want to be.

There’s no on-button for books.  They are always with us, readily available to be opened and consumed.  I rarely go anywhere without a book, as so many moments make it conducive o break out into reading – while waiting on a line, commuting by train to work, taking an airplane, in the bathroom, sitting in a park, dining alone, etc.  TV seems like a distraction, not always a destination.  Books, however, are enjoyed from cover to cover, and always seem to be digested with a purpose.  We don’t read books as a background noise, but we do put the TV on just to feel like we are not alone.

Don’t get me wrong – doses of good TV are also very special to me.  I could never live without television nor should I have to.  I also love going to the movies.  But, given a choice, there are few things I choose over good reading materials.  Can you go a day – a week – or a month – without TV?  Maybe.  A day without books?  Never!

BLASTS FROM THE PAST

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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, Media Connect, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2014