We had a very interesting talk at church yesterday. Basically it was warning against Virtual Reality types of entertainment. I'm not a gamer. Never have been. I get to level 4 on Tetris about once a month before bed and that is the extent of it. My husband is not a gamer. But evidently it is a problem out there. I just read an article today at CNN.com about how thousands of people are experiencing suicidal thoughts after viewing Avatar. Are you kidding me? It's make believe! They think the real world is so grey and lifeless. Seriously, it was a very creative movie. Basically, Fern Gully on Steroids is the main jist of this movie, but killing yourself? Anyway, this talk had an interesting statistic about where you find your happiest moments and the people that were gamers, 53% of them found there happiest moments in their games that day. Seriously? So that got me thinking, what do I use the internet and social sites for? I chat once a week maybe for a few minutes with a friend on facebook. I read and write blogs. I played Farm Town for a few months until it got extremely boring. The only person that I have befriended that I didn't already know in real life is Erika...Hi Erika! I update my Facebook alot. I know. It's just that I don't talk on the phone, ever. I email people and comment. It's easier for me. I feel connected to my friends because they don't live down the street from me anymore. But I still see people, go out to dinner, have play dates, talk, hang out. I don't live in some kind of virtual bubble. And my happiest moments of the day, do not reside on the computer. (once in a while a comment that you might leave on my blog makes my day a bit brighter)
So my joys this week:
1.Singing my kids to sleep. I stopped doing this for a while and I forgot how much I like it. Evan goes right to sleep to Baby Mine.
2. I Painted a wall Chipotle Paste in the Dining Room and it looks fab!
3. I curled my hair and I felt pretty. I often forget how much more confident I feel if I take time for myself.
4. Scraped all the fake stained glass and privacy crud off of the windows. Granted, I can see how much work the backyard needs now, but I'd rather see clearly through those windows and let in all the light.
5. My college application is complete and turned in. I really can't believe that I am doing this!
6. I ran on the track by my house at night. My friend said was concerned for me about running alone so late. I wasn't alone...I was listening to Missy Elliot and besides, I could take on just about anyone who tried to get up in my "grill"....I'm one tough cookie!! (dude, people don't scare me...cougars, now they are just plain nail biting)
7. I had a very specific prayer answered. It wasn't life changing, but it is always so humbling to pray for something specific and get it answered almost immediately through another person. He listens!
Here's to real life...with all it's faults and fumbles....and joys.
5 comments:
Amen sista. Could you forward that talk to my husband? :) Just kidding. Sort of.
Hi back Emily! Ya, I don't get the whole gaming thing. There's just one simple motto here that we all need to follow whether we're gamers, bloggers, facebookers, surfers, whatever: MODERATION IN ALL THINGS. I got burned out on Facebook so I rarely even go there anymore, so my main thing is blogging. I learn so much from everybody--it really can be educational and uplifting. I think it's perfectly healthy for me as long as I can get everything else taken care of around here and as long as I'm not doing it when the kids are home--(I'm trying to work on that last one).
BTW, what's the chipotle paste thing that you were talking about in your kitchen?
Erika, a fabulous dark red/dark brown color on an accent wall. Red is sooo yesterday, but it goes with my accessories and my furniture, so I put it on one wall. And I agree, moderation in all things. The talk is from Elder Bednar and it was a CES fireside in May of 2009 if you want to look it up Dusti. I feel for you hun...sometimes wives are widowed in many different forms like video game addictions or work addictions, or for legitimate reasons like going back to school or death...
Did you hear about the tennis star who's model girlfriend broke up with him over gaming! He would practice tennis like 8 hours a day then come home and play some tennis game on x-box or whatever.
Erika is right about moderation, of course. I think the thing is that some of us are just not able to moderate ourselves. Or we get so into it it's hard to get out. IT's a good message to have.
As for Avatar...I loved it. What a rush! And I don't care that it's anti-capatalist (couldn't have been made without capatalism) or anti-US or pro-tree hugger. Whether I agree with the message or not, I don't appreciate being hit over the head with it. But still, the whole experience was such a treat for the senses I can look past everything else that all the naysaers seem to be complaining about.
I must be out of it, because I haven't heard anything negative about Avatar except this article...it was so colorful and imaginative...but I really didn't care for all the violence in the last third of the movie. I have a hard time with shoot um up type stuff...I could barely get through some of the Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies because of it. I think people read way too much into stuff like this. Cameron is a genius...who may or may not have a great personality, but he knows how to draw a crowd. I loved Titanic. Sorry I am rambling...
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