SURVIVING ISN'T LIVING (AND OTHER LESSONS I LEARNED FROM BINGE-WATCHING TV)
The Dispatch, April 2018
Binge-watching is a cultural phenomenon, and a complicated one. My husband and I recently binge-watched all four seasons of Game of Thrones in two weeks. Forty hours of TV in just 14 days, or nearly three hours per day, sounds like a lot, but it’s actually below the national daily average for television time.
While the word ‘binge’ traditionally implies excessive and shameful indulgence, as in binge-drinking, binge-watching has become a badge of honor. Yes, people have been rushing through back-episodes ever since TV shows were first distributed on VHS and DVD, but Netflix invented binge-viewing. By distributing shows in full-season blocks, Netflix (and it’s thousands of designers, programmers, and marketing whizzes) encourages members to zoom through storylines they’ve missed—especially when a new season is looming. Hulu, HBO, and other online-streaming services have spread the trend, helping us watch more, faster, and without the commercial breaks that remind us to take stretch breaks.
Screen time can be detrimental to our health. Binge-watchers report higher levels of anxiety, stress, depression, and loneliness. Even so, the complexity of plots and characters does offer something for those of us looking to escape. According to cultural anthropologist Grant McCracken, binge-watchers aren’t just wasting away on their sofas; they’re seeking out new experiences. It’s not perfect, by any means, and adventuring ourselves is certainly better, but even binge-watching can offer valuable lessons that influence our lives when we do get to unplug.
One show ripe for testing out the lesson-giving potential of binge-watching is the History Channel’s Alone. Following a tried and true reality tv format (with the necessary ‘unique!’ twist), contestants face treacherous conditions and social isolation while surviving in the wild for up to a year. Whoever lasts the longest is in the running to win $500,000. Basically, it’s nearly perfect reality TV, if there will ever be such a thing, and I binge-watched it, so you don’t have to.
5 Lessons I Learned From Binge-Watching Alone:
1. Bravery is facing the known
Real courage isn’t always about setting off into the unknown. Bravery can be found in facing tomorrow, even when you are pretty certain what it will bring. It might be easier to ignore your problems by sitting mindlessly in front of a screen, but no matter how many episodes you watch, your situation is not going to change on its own. The contestants on Alone can’t ignore the intolerable weather and gnawing hunger. They have to take action. Life is full of known problems, whether financial, medical, social, or political. Everyone faces difficult moments. While reruns offer a temporary distraction, bravery is making the choice to leave the sofa, even when you know what is waiting for you out there.
2. Setting Goals Increases The Chance of Reaching Them
The struggle to motivate ourselves is real, especially since most of us suffer from decision fatigue. In an attempt to avoid anything that might zap more of our energy, we resort to mindless activities, like watching television. Just as the contestants on Alone struggle to motivate themselves, so do we. Daily mundane tasks seem to have no beginning and no end, and without goals or deadlines, things can become overwhelming. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to combat decision fatigue: prepare in advance, focus on one thing at a time, and set realistic goals that you can stick to. Prepare to unplug by giving yourself a deadline.
3. Respect the Grind Enough To Break It
Sometimes each day looks like the one that came before. The sun rises, stuff happens, the sun sets. Living becomes a list of monotonous tasks. For the crazy people trying to survive in the wild, it's finding food, fixing a net, or repairing a shelter. For those of us attached to modern conveniences, it's dishes, school drop-offs, and meetings with clueless bosses. When we're uninspired by our day-to-day, it's easy to turn to 'quick-fix' distractions, like screen-time, that only compound the monotony. You have to stay engaged in the moment to figure out where you can mix things up. You have to become the master of the grind to know how to break free of it.
4. Facing setbacks requires resilience
Resilience is one of our greatest survival strategies. Surprisingly, it’s not the number or size of trials that builds resilience, but the quality of our recovery. While reaching for our screens and devices might seem harmless and relaxing, we are never fully resting while staring at a screen. Watching episode after episode inhibits both our chance to recover in the moment, and to respond better to stresses in the future. To build resilience, we have to stop running to screens and other easy escapes when we face setbacks. We need to engage, truly relax, and recover. Through that, resilience will come.
5. Surviving isn’t living
Surviving is doing things that ensure you live to see another day. The boring stuff. It’s existence and subsistence. Surviving is not experiencing. It’s not enjoying the taste of something, feeling the sand under your feet, or a soft breeze on your face. Surviving is obviously important, but it isn’t living. Living is doing things that excite you. Living is spending time with the people you love.
While binge-watching may offer exciting virtual adventures, it can be an empty existence. 44 episodes of Alone and I’m no closer to my goals. While contestants made plenty of campfires, I never fully experienced them myself. It is only when our senses awaken to the warmth of the heat, the smell of the wood and the crackle of the flame that we fully experience aliveness. The time has come to stop watching others build fires, and go build your own.
Did You Know?
Netflix members watch over 1 billion hours of content a week.
70% of Americans binge-watch an average of 5 episodes at a time.
Dig Deeper
Watch History Channel’s Alone
