Stepping Off the Reservation

"When you step off the reservation, you’re on your own. There’s no script to follow. Nobody to tell you where to go, what to do, or even what to strive for. All there is, is a vastness stretching out to the horizon. Somewhere out there, beyond the hazy horizon, your future awaits. It waits for no one, but you. You don’t know where it is, nor what’s there. But you approach it, one step at a time. One step. At a time." ~ Ryo Chijiiwa

Ryo is a fellow techno-geek off-gridder :) and this quote is from his blog Laptop and A Rifle.  His latest entry, "Home Again" describes his reaction to the re-entry into civilization. I can definitely identify with his reaction...

Yesterday and today, I helped a carpenter friend with a bathroom remodel project. While we were onsite, the home-owner was watching TV. Even though the volume was at a moderate level, it sounded SO loud! Although it's only been 4 months since I've watched TV, my body felt like it was being assaulted...like being inundated with something toxic or something. I can't quite put my finger on it, other than paralleling it to how a body feels after cleansing itself from junk food and once exposed to junk food again, goes into spasms. I'm amazed that it only took "a little TV exposure" and my body had such an adverse reaction!

The other noteworthy thing was how truly ridiculous the TV sounded! The actual "conversation" of the program sounded artificial, stilted, disconnected and devoid of emotion. It was a comedy show and there was laughter (a laugh track), but there was no emotion. It was quite chilling to listen. Like looking at the soul-less eyes of a stuffed animal trophy...

Although this was 2011, the commercials sounded as hokey as the commercials from the 50's and 60's. Do you remember seeing the ones? The ones where the actors over-dramatized the benefits of the product like it's a cure-all for everything. The over-the-top enthusiasm that if you buy their product, you'll be happy, successful, etc.

I had an inkling of the effects of TV and subsequent consumer-indoctrination on my psyche, but until I actually stepped away from "civilization" I had no idea of how significant and substantial the effects of TV. I'm reminded of a scene in the book "Fahrenheit 451" where Mildred is more emotionally invested to "the family" (her name for TV) than to her actual husband.

I enjoy "stepping off the reservation"...more than that, I enjoy defining and creating my life according to my own sense of adventure, writing my script based upon the leading of my soul...

I have more to share about the effects of and reactions to "civilization", but this is all for now...