Could you do without your TV? About the Art of Storytelling.

There was a time when people spent their nights talking to each other. Or reading, knitting, whittling, painting, making music, whatever.
Call me old-fashioned, but thinking about those times makes me nostalgic and not a little envious.

What's a typical evening at your house?

I'll tell you about mine: my husband is teaching the skill of tennis, my daughter is glued to the tiny screen of her smart phone, my son is glued to the large flatscreen of the TV or to his computer screen and I either read or blog. If I'm not gardening, attempting to play the guitar, singing or interviewing couples about to be married by yours truly. 

Watch TV? Hardly ever.

I love films, but with a husband into sports in a major way, I don't see many. And the thing is: I don't miss watching TV, at all. In fact, it has started to irritate me when people do the good old couch potato imitation. 

I try to instill some sense of sociability into my kids, but as they are fast approaching the age where they see me as a silly old bag ("Mum! Insisting that we speak to each other during meals is soooooooo 1970! We communicate all day, honestly!") it is like dragging that proverbial horse to the water...you know.

And yes, sure, I'm glued to my little screen as we speak, so to speak... But that's different. 

a. my TV is off and

b. I'm communicating, in a way, with you and

c. if someone would ask my attention for a proper conversation I would stop writing in an instant

There are times when I need a little help from my 'friends'. 

I collect quotes. There is a quote for every ache, for every pain, for every moment of joy, for every hurdle and for every time I feel like I'm crying out in the desert.

The quote above is one I read when I need a little boost about this blog. I am one of those storytellers. 

Here's another quote. Anon, this one.

Storytellers used to have an important role in communities and families. Everyone loves a good story. But here's where the TV has stepped in. It tells the stories for us, and it sucks up all our attention. At the urging of my son, who is as interested in Celtic history as I am, I watched a documentary about The (genetic) Faces of Britain (3 parts, 45 minutes each) a little while ago and noticed the editor used the same image of blood being syphoned into test tubes no less than 10 times in each part. That's every 4,5 minutes; the same images. Mind-numbing!!! And this is 'quality' TV!

So, I'd like to put it to you again. Could you do without your TV? Would you want to?

Or would you rather I tell you a story?