I Get Two Precious Hours a Night: Why I devote them to Reading

It is mid week and I am home from another long day of work. I am lucky enough to have a spouse that starts on dinner for me (and it is usually made) when I walk in the door. When I set my bag down the kids pounce on me to: 1). Take their side in the latest battle of who had it first or 2). come and watch their talent show in the family room (which involves many small toys scattered around various blankets on the ground). Fast forward to 1 hour later where dinner is quickly over with and bribes are used to get kids into pajamas, stories are read, and I am shutting their bedroom doors wondering how many times they will come out asking for water and vitamins. Fast forward thirty more minutes and the dinner dishes are being done, lunches are being packed for the next day and I am laying out the coats and backpacks for the morning. My anxiety mounts as I look at the clock and play a game asking how much ‘free time’ do I get before bed. Free time is me time and can be geared to many different venues. The wonderful overachievers make us all look bad by exercising-- (and bless them), but there are others (waving hand vigorously) who opt for entertainment.

The streaming services know this and aim to occupy any available free time in hopes of making all one’s hopes and dreams come true. Netflix CEO Reed Hasting’s reveals their biggest competitor is not even another network:

“You get a show or a movie you’re really dying to watch, and you end up staying up late at night, so we actually compete with sleep. And we’re winning!” -Reed Hastings

Going along with a trend in millennial households, we jumped on the bandwagon of cutting the cable and opted for a life of streaming TV shows. Historically I have enjoyed found myself down a hole of TV shows and lost myself in it. But the more I have watched shows the less satisfied I became. I have 2 beautiful hours to myself each night between the hours of 9-11pm. I could watch 4 TV shows, 2 movies...etc.

But there are so many networks. And something has changed about television shows. Shows are evolving and never before has there been so much. There are more choices, more action, more horror, all of it. And what is frustrating is that networks cancel or drop shows like no big deal. I would find myself so invested in a show only to discover that it was being canceled. This happened to me with at least 3 or 4 different shows. Cursing and vigorously ranting on social media I would just become to stressed out. Why am I wasting my time investing in shows where I am judging the actors, constantly worried about if the show will be canceled, and even expecting more?

After saying ‘screw it’ and taking a leap into books I have never looked back. I started with YA book series and found my niche. I have included book that will soon be adapted to films, thrillers, and classics.  I can certainly testify that the universal book truth is still the same: books are nearly always better than the film. And the second truth is that so many shows and movies are taken from books! Books have the authenticity and originality that these streaming services borrow from in making their shows. There is so much satisfaction reading a book and knowing that there are not actors demanding more money, that I don’t have to worry about it getting canceled or trying to campaign for a network to pick it up. There is so much satisfaction in not being distracted by appearances or sound. Utilizing your local library is also free and there are many opportunities online to read free books.  Reading keeps me engaged and provides a time with myself that I really appreciate. Yes I made still be competing with sleep for my free time but I am okay with that. I love the fact that books do not need wifi and are portable. I love finding another person who has similar tastes in fiction. I love logging into my Goodreads app and seeing the bar graph more toward the right when I log how many pages I have read.

I do not wish to disrespect the lure of a streaming binge watch. Once upon a time there was a thing as binge reading. It still exists. And if you do feel empty and unsatisfied after using your precious time binge watching TV I invite you to pick up a good book instead. And if you are wiped out with reading from constant child story time night after night I invite you to hang in there. My habits of sneaking in books during the day have rubbed off on my 5 year hold. She even took over my reading chair and heated blanket last week and read aloud her site words from a  chapter book we had started. So when you feel weighed down by financial struggles, relationships, demanding children, or even the stresses or media remember yourself. Plan ahead, prep the day before however you can to squeeze in some you time. I encourage reading as it helped me. The library has become my “Cheers” where the librarians literally do know my name. Reading is free, it is a great way to stimulate the brain, and is an activity where you can control the pace. I can only hope that you will carve outcome time for you tonight and perhaps once in a while trade the remote for some printed pages.