C'est Le Weekend: To be Free

Mmmmm.  

Night two, no TV.  

Wonderful.

Last night, the husband and I sat on the couch with wine and talked.

About all manners of things, how we parent, how we live, and what it means to be free.

It doesn't happen often:  We have fallen into a pattern where he watches TV and I scan the internet all evening.

It's a difficult question:  When are we free?

Does it mean financial freedom?  No work on Monday morning?  No taxes?

No family to worry about?

I've sort of come to the conclusion that being free, to me, has more to do with the importance I give to things instead of the limitations that I might experience.

I seem to be free to choose who and what is important in my life, although I don't make this choice at all.

Because what is most important to me?  

Kids, husband, family.

Easily answered, but seemingly problematic in its application.

All my stress and frustrations from the world outside, is paid for by my LOVED ones at home.  

But love is a verb, as Stephen Covey wrote, it requires action.

The balance is missing.

And the primal need to do it differently and better is overwhelming.

When I was at university, I once read about a study involving 11 families to determine the effect that TV had on family life and relationships.

The TV was removed.

After a year - no more hiding behind TVs and not having to converse with family members - all, I'll repeat, ALL the families had split up.

Tv really is, as the saying goes, the opposite of creativity and deep and meaningful relationships.

Mind-numbingly so.

Switch it off.
Converse.
Be in the moment instead of being a spectator to moments on TV.
Mindfulness.

The husband and I need to figure out what freedom means to us.  

Because we keep repeating the same behaviour, yet we expect different outcomes on a daily basis.

For two people with brains we're pretty damn daft and stupid, to say the least.

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