A New Resolution

I have always had this love for music (as most people do) and I'm constantly trying to find new or old bands to be inspired by.  From U2 to Mumford and Sons, Sigur Ros to Michael Jackson.  They all have had a huge influence in my life.

However, the past few months I have felt this conviction over the burning of music.  Granted, this has not been a recent discovery among music lovers, but has abruptly struck something inside of me.

One word that has really been coming up in journaling and conversations amongst community is "integrity".  I know that my life will be best lived if it is guided by this one word.  However, one of my deepest passions is also the one place that I lack integrity.

So today I decided to delete all the music that I had ever illegally downloaded.  This was not easy for me.  My collection started at a staggering 75 gb's worth down to a mere 17 gigs.  I lost the music of many artists that I absolutely loved.  Many of which I claimed to admire the most.

From now on I will open my wallet and pay these incredible artists their well deserved $9.99 per album.  I will listen with integrity.

Obsession

I heard a great line from a song today that really struck something inside of me.

"everyone has their obsession.  Consuming thoughts, consuming time.  They hold tight their prized possessions that defines the meaning of their lives"

There is this warring inside my chest that battles against that which I want to do and that which I don't.  (Romans 7:15)  If only I could buy and sell that which I want to entertain and the rubbish in which I long to eradicate.

I will always burn for something.  Let me burn for you.

Us Unplugged

We finally came to the conclusion that our lives would be much more fulfilled if we cut ties from the sucker-of-time that is television.  Granted, I don't think Farnsworth intended for his 20th century invention to be labeled as such, but if you are anything similar to myself, this motion picture box steals hours off the clock as I incoherently stare into its beautiful LCD display.


Amy and I's daily routine after coming home from work would be to plop down on the couch as we dug through the one-hundred-and-some-odd digital channels.  Sometimes we would find that perfect show that we both anticipated, but more often than not one would catch a glimpse of a show that only interested them while the other headed off to another room to find something to use up the next thirty minutes.  Our lives, unbeknownst to us, we growing together like two positive-charged magnets.


As we began to notice this overwhelmingly destructive trend, conversations began of how life would be without our talk box.  "Could you handle not watching basketball?"  "We won't be able to watch this is we get rid of cable."  What were we to do?


Well, today completed our second full day without cable t.v.  We have already noticed a huge difference in the amount of productivity we each can yield as well as the influx of conversation time.  One may comment that we have only been going at this for two days, but may I remind you that we have been barricaded in with over twenty inches of snow since Monday night.  One might feel trapped; tortured even. But I have thoroughly enjoyed the quietness of life.  I have also been able to do the hobbies I enjoy the most such as writing music, cooking, and spending time with my wife and little girl.


Life without television, I have discovered, is not as bad as it sounds.  Although I do not think this is an act everyone must adhere to, it has allowed me more time to bask in the riches of life.  Years from now we may go back to cable but as for now I will pass on the television as I have a second helping of time.