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Everyday Livingness
Healthy Lifestyle, TV / Technology 621 Comments on Television was my Religion

Television was my Religion

By Cherise Holt · On May 12, 2017 ·Photography by Nico van Haastrecht

My relationship with TV started long ago when I was a child and it was only when I stopped watching TV that I realised how all consuming this relationship had been in my life.

I remember the development from viewing childhood and educational learning programs to cartoons, music video shows every Saturday morning, Australian and American sitcoms each evening, movies (that I would watch religiously over and over and over again!) and the gradual progression into reality TV shows, renovation, gardening and cooking programs or documentaries and news on current world events.

TV was my religion; it was a big part of my life as I rarely went a day without watching something. It formed a ritual and a way of living that was religious to me. 

In my 20’s, technology made it easier to ensure I never missed an episode of my favourite show and I would record my programs if I was working late or if I went on holidays and needed to catch up as soon as I returned.

Television was my ‘down-time’, my ‘relax-time’ at the end of a busy or emotional day and it was my best friend when something stressful was going on that I certainly did not want to feel. I would arrive straight home from work and turn on the TV, keeping it switched on to help me switch off until that last minute before sleep. Many times I would even stay up longer than I really felt to just to see the climax of the program and how the story would end. I was living my life through the characters on the screen and used the drama and distraction to get me through the day.  

The truth is I was religious with a lot of things, not only TV. There were sweets and fast food and the current top hits in music too. I was living in a way that was completely committed and dedicated to these things. I could hold a conversation with another about an episode or repeat all the words from Grease, Mary Poppins or The Simpsons when I was young, but I certainly couldn’t have an intimate or truthful conversation about what was really going on or what I truly felt. Because of this I always felt an emptiness and a lack of self-love within that I worked tirelessly to fill – with TV, stimulation or entertainment and food; most commonly using all at the same time.  

I was missing the deeply loving and religious relationship with myself that I knew was possible. 

When we consider that the true meaning of Religion is about being in relationship and returning to the love we truly are, these days I live religiously in a very different way. From my choices to bring more self-love into my life, I began to spend more time truly living and not just checking-out from life – I began to live religiously with love and with me. 

My life is not about what’s happening on the screen anymore; it’s not about watching fictitious characters live their emotional drama as I watch in suspense and from my own withdrawal, but instead a way of living where I am now living from my own heart’s centre and not through others.

My commitment and purpose is now about living a loving and healthy relationship with me, so that I can bring this quality to others too. This means viewing and bringing an understanding to what is going on for and around me, and choosing to allow my natural awareness to be felt and honoured, instead of trying to shut it out or override it with any form of distraction.

The self-loving way I choose to live now is about cherishing who I am and bringing all of me to everything that I do, where I go, how I am in my relationships with other people and taking care of myself and my body by eating well and making truly nurturing choices. It’s definitely not about checking-out on the couch anymore, with the remote in one hand, TV guide in the other, an unhealthy meal choice in front of me and a rather sluggish approach to life!  

TV once dictated how I spent my time – how I spent my evenings with my family, how I planned my day and at what time of night I would eventually go to bed. I based my life around TV rather than true love. 

It is now great to be choosing a religious way of life that is not about entertainment value but the true value I feel from appreciating how sensitive and acutely aware I am in my day and thus giving myself the chance to actually feel this and read a situation for what it is. In 2010 I moved home and gave my TV away. It has actually felt natural to let go of a religious way of living that was not truly supporting me or my relationships, making way for an ever-deepening religious way of life that I now have, rich in connection to my knowing, embracing of life and with an openness and love for myself and others.  

By Cherise Holt, 33, Brisbane

Further Reading:
Socially Accepted Addictions: What’s Really Going On?
Life is religion. What does that mean?
What is true religion?

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Cherise Holt

You’ll find me at the nearest sunset or sunrise, or in the longest gaze with those bright stars above. Born, raised and enjoying life in Brisbane, I am at home anywhere there is people and I LOVE my job in nursing, writing, singing, capturing beauty in a photo, being a mother and smiling at the smallest of moments in between.

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621 Comments

  • Mary Adler says: January 30, 2020 at 4:11 pm

    A TV remote controller puts you under the control of the illusion of what is on the screen.

    Reply
  • Leigh Matson says: August 15, 2019 at 5:12 pm

    I’ve not had a TV for years now. However, I work in peoples homes and most of the time they have a TV. It’s been fascinating to see how attractive and attention-grabbing the programs are. Much like a bug zapper they lure you in but don’t kill you, simply drain your energy. But it’s attractive strength is actually an indication of how much I am connected to myself, not that the TV is more powerful than me.

    Reply
  • Greg Barnes says: July 12, 2019 at 3:58 am

    Addicted or addiction was the way I feel about TV. / movies and I am so glad I have moved on and no longer check out in-front of a screen.

    Reply
  • Annoymous says: April 7, 2019 at 5:34 am

    It saddens me to see how many young people are addicted to gaming. Seriously this needs to stop, it must be very detrimental for development.

    Reply
  • Karin says: March 30, 2019 at 3:58 am

    TV has always been a go to distraction for me and with that I’d have my particular flavour which is sci-fi series or detective drama. But what I realised recently is finding myself thinking about the series in my everyday life. It’s like it’s not just a distraction for the time I watch it but, if I’ve gone into watching a series with the intent to not feel what’s going on in my life I’ve let the doors open for whatever it is I watch to percolate inside of me. I do not want to be with the characters in the series for days, even years later!

    Reply
  • Annoymous says: March 7, 2019 at 8:09 am

    People are quite surprised when I say I have never owned a television, I know without doubt my life is much richer and loving because I do not have one.

    Reply
    • Rachel Murtagh says: March 16, 2019 at 6:51 am

      To have never owned a TV is quite unusual considering how addicted we are to it in the modern world. I have stopped watching TV for many years though, however recently I was recovering from a surgical procedure and wasn’t up to doing very much for the first couple of days post operation, so I chose to watch some TV. What I felt in my body afterwards was quite surprising as I had never felt this before… the only way I can describe it was like a feeling of pollution in my body… it was like a thickness that was on a surface layer.

      Reply
  • Lorraine Wellman says: February 2, 2019 at 5:10 am

    A great choice that I too have made, I love living in this way, ‘The self-loving way I choose to live now is about cherishing who I am and bringing all of me to everything that I do, where I go, how I am in my relationships with other people and taking care of myself and my body by eating well and making truly nurturing choices.’

    Reply
  • Karin Barea says: January 1, 2019 at 9:26 am

    I’ve realised how I’ve used TV as a substitute for connection with actual people and myself. It’s such a distraction from being alone with me. I’m learning to be with myself and be aware of all that is around me and the more I do this, the less I watch TV.

    Reply
  • Rebecca says: December 29, 2018 at 5:03 pm

    It’s really interesting to read this article about TV. I grew up with TV being an everyday part of my life, it was on every evening, all evening. As a young adult I started to feel that it was in fact a waste of my precious time to sit and watch TV all evening and that there were other things I would rather be doing. Now I don’t have a TV and don’t miss it, instead I enjoy catching up on work, playing games with my family or getting ready for bed. I love going to bed easily and not with the TV programme going around in my head and I enjoy not staying up late to find out what happens in a film.

    Reply
  • julie says: December 5, 2018 at 5:30 pm

    I haven’t watched TV for some time and then did and found that I could not sleep. I kept waking up and then felt drained in the morning – it’s just not worth it. The trouble is it’s so addictive because I kept thinking about the show and when the next episode was on.

    Reply
  • Julie says: November 18, 2018 at 5:11 pm

    Television used to be my best friend when I was lonely. The trouble is I used to look for things to watch that would reflect my mood and then feel worse.

    Reply
    • Mary says: January 30, 2022 at 2:43 pm

      Julie OMGoodness how many of us have done this watched something that reflects the mood we are in only to feel worse and the same with music it’s like a over indulgence in emotional drama, that is completely draining on our bodies, so we then feel that we have to eat or drink something to get our energy levels back again. It’s a completely false way of living.

      Reply
  • Annelies van Haastrecht says: October 25, 2018 at 11:07 pm

    ‘I based my life around TV rather than true love.’ If truth is your foundation it takes comfort away.

    Reply
  • Julie says: September 27, 2018 at 2:23 pm

    When we think about it, it’s bizarre to be watching a fictitious story about other people living their lives. The only thing it can provide is escapism from our own lives and a way to not feel our misery.

    Reply
    • Elaine Arthey says: October 2, 2018 at 10:04 pm

      And social media can be such a distraction too.

      Reply
  • Joshua Campbell says: September 22, 2018 at 12:55 am

    Nearly all programs I loved to watch in the past were about making me feel better because the life I had was never as good as what I saw on TV. Mix that in with the emotional stimulation of the news and the escape of the odd cartoon and you have a very hooking and addictive relationship with the TV entirely based on emotional emptiness and need as it is.

    Reply
  • Sandra Vicary says: September 3, 2018 at 5:02 am

    To not be ‘hooked’ anymore by the addictive nature of TV has been incredibly liberating, and additionally means there is more time to do things that have a true purpose to them.

    Reply
  • Shami says: August 30, 2018 at 6:40 am

    I have noticed how the major and all consuming new religion of this era could be said to be the little screen of the mobile phone. As a constant companion, giving us updates and a chance to communicate, it seems to be never far from our hands or our gaze. Perhaps now it is our most worshipped item, but it is worship that does not deliver a divine source from which to understand ourselves and life.

    Reply
  • Mary Adler says: July 27, 2018 at 2:43 pm

    When we religiously turn on the TV or other means of distraction we are wired in to thoughts of others and lose connection to ourselves.

    Reply
  • Lucy Dahill says: July 15, 2018 at 6:02 am

    Television is interesting isn’t it because it is soporific as well as stimulating. The quality of our sleep when we fall asleep watching TV or watch a large amount of TV is our own body’s evidence. The question is how willing are we to listen to our body of evidence?

    Reply
    • Karin says: March 30, 2019 at 4:01 am

      I love how apt the turn of phrase ‘body of evidence’ is!

      Reply
  • Jill Steiner says: July 3, 2018 at 6:13 am

    Distractions are there to be just that, and TV is just one of the many that takes us away from how we are feeling and what we are feeling, it is interesting that anything outside of us that we have a constant relationship with can be looked upon as our religion, when the true meaning of the word is not something outside of us but a reconnection a re bonding to our inner heart, our true essence.

    Reply
    • Lorraine says: February 2, 2019 at 5:17 am

      The more we live in this way, the more we inspire and show people that they too can live in a loving and healthy way, ‘My commitment and purpose is now about living a loving and healthy relationship with me, so that I can bring this quality to others too. ‘

      Reply
  • HM says: June 30, 2018 at 3:42 am

    What a turn around- TV is so addictive and there has been a massive spike in series – encouraging people to get hooked and buy in to them. So to cut this out is a big deal as it is pretty much an addiction. Your sharing will inspire a lot of people who might be caught up in the hit of the next episode.

    Reply
  • Helen Elliott says: June 22, 2018 at 7:38 pm

    One of the definitions of religion is ‘a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion’ which perfectly describes what TV is for so many and how we can make anything into a religion when we are dedicated to finding any distraction that will fill the emptiness of our lack of self-love. Ultimately none of these substitutes ever work and it is only when we choose a religious way of life that is about love that we come to a settlement within ourselves.

    Reply
  • Shami says: June 22, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    The television was also a huge part of my childhood, as it would give me the comfort of companionship that I felt I was missing. And as it had not ever been passed on to me that these relationships with the tv people were not real, that they were fake and so when real life came along and offered me genuine connection with other people, I must admit that I did feel somewhat unprepared.

    Reply
  • chris james says: June 17, 2018 at 6:26 pm

    What we call now religion comes in so many forms… It really does behoove humanity to return to the true essence of this word

    Reply
  • Elaine Arthey says: June 10, 2018 at 5:06 am

    I feel that television is more like a drug than a religion because it is so addictive. When there is a screen on anywhere it can be quite difficult to ignore it. I remember times when I have been having a conversation with someone and the tv is on, even though the sound might be switched down so it cannot be heard, the lights flashing on the screen seem to call out for our attention and act as a constant distraction.

    Reply
  • Simon Williams says: May 17, 2018 at 3:23 pm

    Its a weird feeling to be living life through a vicarious pleasure of watching another (pretend or real) on TV. Pure escapism it allows us to be rich, poor, super hero, villain. Whatever tickles our fancy but ultimately takes us away from ourselves.

    Reply
  • Mary Adler says: May 10, 2018 at 2:46 pm

    “TV, keeping it switched on to help me switch off” When we realise that this is the attraction of TV and screens, we have to stop and question what are we switching off from?

    Reply
  • Carola Woods says: May 4, 2018 at 6:11 am

    Yes, so very true. Remove the distractions that dull us and the truth of what we are feeling will guide us to freely live who we are.

    Reply
  • Carola Woods says: May 4, 2018 at 4:59 am

    It is sadly convenient that we have bastardised the word religion, and associated it only with going to church, or institutionalised religions, which most of us have a massive reaction to. As with this we dismiss the fact and the responsibility that there are many points of our lives that are lived religiously, such as what you have shared with watching TV as one example. Yet is what we are religious with offering us evolution, or de-evolution? Is what we are religious with deepening our connection to who we are, our Soul, and living with greater love, harmony and awareness of our universality? Such is the true meaning of religion and all that is has to offer us if we are willing to be open to the truth of how we are really living and the impact it has on us and our evolution as a humanity.

    Reply
    • Helen Elliott says: June 22, 2018 at 7:40 pm

      Great questions Carola prompting us to take responsibility for what we are choosing.

      Reply
    • Mary says: January 30, 2022 at 2:58 pm

      Carola I really felt the impact of your words
      “Is what we are religious with deepening our connection to who we are, our Soul, and living with greater love, harmony and awareness of our universality? Such is the true meaning of religion and all that is has to offer us if we are willing to be open to the truth of how we are really living and the impact it has on us and our evolution as a humanity.”
      We think we think but we do not and so what energy are we choosing that takes us away from our soul by constantly distracting us by keeping us all in the motion of life rather than feeling the deep stillness of our multidimensionality.

      Reply
  • Lucy Dahill says: March 31, 2018 at 6:33 pm

    Oh dear, I think on that basis we are religious about so many things that are not related to God! (the most readily accepted word connected to religion) If we apply your logic then we have to include sport, food, socialising, pretty much every addiction we can think of! However, to consider that our relationship with ourselves could have that same level of commitment and dedication has a wonderful expansive feeling in my body, so it is time to consider the rituals that would be part of that religious commitment and build a new foundation.

    Reply
    • Simon Williams says: May 17, 2018 at 3:26 pm

      There is a really interesting cross reference here Lucy…. if you were to ask an avid football fan if sport was their religion I suspect you would get a positive response, equally I suspect that it would meet the criteria of addiction as well!

      Reply
  • Joseph Barker says: March 19, 2018 at 9:15 am

    Come rain or shine I would be there on the couch to watch that show – i’d never miss it and looked forward to the time like seeing a cherished old friend. I can see today Cherise how if we bring love to life every moment becomes something we appreciate, enjoy and will never attempt to escape from.

    Reply
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