Before the invention of electricity what did people do for entertainment? They would have gatherings at the town hall or a person house. Some people may have brought their instruments to play, people would dance, play games, play sports, or just talk to one another. Some people would be good at telling stories like Si from Duck Dynasty. Perhaps even someone like me would bring a piece of artwork for people to see. Farmers and other people with similar trades could share information on how to better their businesses or work together. These gatherings were a way for people to be the entertainers themselves, giving everyone a chance to participate in the entertainment in some way.
So what happened to people that this lost art of entertaining each other diminished. Everyone like to be entertained, but not many people do much to entertain others. The difference is people of the 2000's are addicted to being entertained. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest, Netflix, video and computer games, and even the fading regular television watching is what people do all the time. I used to be you could only do these things at your computer. Not any more; we have these entertainment super havens we can take with us anywhere. Smartphones, tablets, and for those people who don't mind carrying the weight the laptop computer. People are in a continuous perpetual state of being plugged into entertainment. This doesn't give us much time to really think for ourselves.
In my opinion these new electronic entertainment gadgets that everyone is becoming or are already addicted to is suppressing the part of people's brains that lets them be creative. It doesn't allow them time to think of ways to entertain others. These devices take up so much of their time that they don't practice their talents that they could share with other people.
A part of my life is a good example of this. I used to be addicted to computer games and using the computer itself. Every time I would think, "what can I do today?" I always thought of using the computer first. It took up so much of my time that I didn't do much else. I didn't draw, I didn't exercise, I didn't even eat much especially healthful foods. I became overweight and even less sociable than I normally am. After I stopped using the computer and playing games on it hours on end I started to draw more and my drawing skills have drastically improved. I also lost 20 lbs. without trying. I took up bicycling more and other activities and now I to my goal weight. Lately I started watching TV less and I can think more clearly. I come up with more jokes to make my wife laugh, even come with with better(I think) Christmas gifts to give her.
So this year think about what is taking up your time and if it's electronic entertainment that takes up a lot of your precious time; think about giving your brain a break so you can entertain others!
