Entertainment

I haven't watched TV for a year and a half other than at times when I've been at other people's houses, at the fitness center in my office or things with my kids and that are rated G. Once in a blue moon I watch a movie, but I can probably count on one hand how many movies I've watched for my own entertainment in the past year and a half.

Not having watched much TV has put an even greater starkness between my "past life" and my "current life." A Buddhist monk I know who has been ordained for nearly 20 years only has knowledge of pop culture up until his ordination. He once referred to the "Where's the beef?" commercial. Guess that was from his past life.

I was thinking this morning about funny TV shows and movies I've enjoyed in the past and kind of miss. I'm sure there has been plenty of new entertainment that I have missed out on and I'm starting to feel a little behind the times. At the same time, I am thankful that my mind has stayed relatively clear. I would not give that up for anything. But I could use a little entertainment here and there. I am not opposed to it in moderation, and I have been on the austere side in terms of TV and movies. I'd rather let myself be entertained once in awhile. I just never think to turn anything on when I have free time. That's probably a good thing in general.

I still listen to a lot of music. Music brings me joy. I try to stick to music that inspires me to love in the biggest sense of the word, though some is just purely entertainment. Some of my favorite music lately is stuff that is only instrumental. Joy itself has no words and I can hear it in this music. That beautiful music plays in my mind all day and makes me smile. Or sometimes it drives me a little nuts. The broken record in my mind can be a hindrince sometimes.

In the fitness room last week "Desperate Housewives" was on. Cheesy and melodramatic but well put together, this show. I heard a beautiful poem that I'm sure most people know and I'm sure I've heard before. The poem was written by Mary Elizabeth Frye. It was a little break in the pettiness of the show that was refreshing.

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_not_stand_at_my_grave_and_weep

Recited by character Mrs. McCluskey in the American television drama Desperate Housewives, episode "Welcome to Kanagawa". The modified version is used just before Lynette Scavo scatters the ashes of Ida Greenberg on the baseball field where Ida had executed a triple play as a women's professional ballplayer. That version is:

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there, I do not sleep
I am a thousand winds that blow
I am the diamond glints of snow
I am the sunlight on ripened grain
I am the gentle autumn’s rain
Do not stand at my grave and cry
I am not there, I did not die