Habits.
They can be good, they can be bad, and they most certainly can be plentiful. If our habits define our moments and our moments define our lives, I'd like to say it's time to lasso those miscreant activities we do that somehow seep into the fabric of our day and put them out to pasture. If only it were so easy. (You can just consider that terrible cliche as one of the habits I wish to, ahem, do away with.)

For instance, reality TV.
I have gotten into this habit of enjoying drama-- not my drama-- the drama of others flaunted on screen. Maybe it's a curse of introversion-- I am interacting with others in a voyeuristic manner (I know that can be interpreted as creepy, but work with me people)-- I don't actually have to involve myself in their lives, but I do involve myself in their lives. I see them fight, interact with friends, gossip, and even . . . shower. Yikes, I am a creeper! In reality TV, the "stars'" lives are on display for the world to see, and we are all happy partakers of "The Society of the Spectacle." In a book of that title, Guy (pronounced Gee, don't ask me why, but I was gently chastised for mispronouncing his moniker once) Debord writes, "All that was once directly lived has become mere representation." He argues that we, as a society, have become dependent on images and representations of what is real, rather than reality itself. Eerie! (Side note: I think this also has implications to John Piper's Don't Waste Your Life, but I am too tired to articulate them now). It's kind of like that movie Wall-E, where the inhabitants of the futuristic city float around in front of a screen, watching life instead of living it. (Now, the whole sitting in front of a screen thing is another habit to kick, methinks, maybe another day.)

So, I was I thinking about all of that today as I watched a "real housewife" claim Whoopi Goldberg "assaulted" her on The View (Whoopi merely touched her waist). Ridiculous! Who allows these people to become famous? After this ah-hah moment, I decided that, aside from I dunno, cough, American Idol, I would eschew some of the reality TV habits that I developed . . . and maybe pick up a book instead, take the dog on a walk, engage people in actual conversation, or, maybe, just maybe go on a date . . . (instead of watching others whine about or praise their love lives).

It's easier to let the life of someone else wash over you as it "appears" on the television screen, and for some, living, taking risks, and even sharing meaningful moments with others is hard work. And, while it is a natural inclination for humans to want to share their lives, perhaps I will try to do so in a more genuine way; there are many more quality activities to be done and shared . . . Besides, I really don't care what Teresa Giudice had for dinner. At least I tell myself that . . .