A Reality Show of Your Life - Would You Watch It?
April 3, 2014
The best reader responses are below.
In case anyone is curious about me, no I would not watch
a reality show based on my life; nor would anyone else.
My life takes place inside my head. Nothing to see!
That's how I get through these long Manitoba winters.
Dennis- Unless they handed out awards for MOST boring show ever.
I have brought this subject up to my wife several times in the recent past. We laugh at how boring our life is and how no-one would watch us as we sat in bed ,her watching tv and me reading. Her disturbing my reading with something she thinks is funny or suspenseful, and me trying to ignore her attempts to distract my reading, or me glaring at her when she succeeds. Unless somebody finds a couple of people living with four dogs as a good use of time, it is unlikely to have any viewership.
No, Henry, I would not watch a reality show about myself. Unless they handed out awards for MOST boring show ever.
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Michael - Looking forward to growing old in as close to the most boring way possible,
I might have to watch the reality show of my life, particularly my earlier life. It was the exact opposite of the boring, steady, predictable life that I am striving towards. In fact, it contained the following elements:
*Graphic sex - my mother, for a time, did "go-go" dancing (pole dancing/stripping in the modern vernacular) to supplement the food stamps she received (single mom in the 1970's), and then she was a prostitute-turned-madam for the mob in the 1980's in New Jersey;
*Drugs - my father sold, then used, much cocaine and graduated to crack in the mid-80's, smoking as much as $1,800 per day; this forced me, as a teenager, to work, sometimes multiple shifts, at the local McDonald's in Brooklyn's Coney Island area, just to (shortly) keep a roof over our heads;
*Homelessness - a teenaged boy should not have to sleep under the Coney Island boardwalk, or in store fronts, and have to get beat up, urinated and spit on, because his crack-addicted father burned down the apartment;
*Sexual Abuse - my father, like his father (and uncles), just couldn't keep his hands off his daughters;
*Strange encounters - shades and shadows and other odd entities early in life, particularly in the mid-70's, culminating in an abduction from my apartment when I was 8 years old (1978) by what is commonly referred to as the Greys;
*Military adventures - the only way out of the homeless situation, or so it seemed at the time, was to join the US Navy -- it's not just a job, it's an adventure -- where I got to live in Scotland for two years, travel throughout Europe, and get the kind of "education" some of my more well-off friends could only imagine.
Obviously, this is the Cliff's Notes version, but now that I am 44, and recently married, both my wife and I are looking forward to growing old in as close to the most boring way possible, with the exception of occasionally going out to dance and maybe catching the occasional Hollywood action drivel. Thanks for letting me rant!
Bill - It's tough being sane in an insane world.
My life reminds me of the Grateful Dead song Truckin', which includes the line: what a long, strange trip it's been. My mom and dad are gone, as is my sister, my ex-wife and daughter (who has not spoken to me for 3 years - no explanation given). The only family I have left is my brother Bob, who is married with two kids and always busy. Fortunately, we are very close, so when we do chat, it's very nourishing. One thing we both agree on: Life is strange and people are weird.
When I get to sharing stories with people, I often hear, "you should write a book." Which brings me to your question: If your life were a reality show, would you watch it? My answer is NO. At least not without some glamorization. I lost too often. It's quite pitiful. So much potential going to waste.
I thought "being saved" and giving my life to God would change things. It had a positive effect at first, but then a negative effect later. Now I am free from that mindfuck, as well as the marriage and family craziness (I married a Filipina in Cebu City in 1988. My experience was similar to yours.) At 58, the "need" for a female sex partner and companion is finally subsiding. This is a huge blessing.
My focus these days is on being fully aware of life "in the moment." It goes by fast, so enjoy each pain-free moment. I am content living alone in my comfortable condo. Peace and quiet, surrounded by nature in warm, sunny Florida. Life is good. Now, if the Government would stop attacking us from all directions, my stress level would be much healthier. It's tough being sane in an insane world.
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Denny- Modernity is one big show.
My life already is a "reality show" and yes I am watching it as I live it. Krishnamurti once coined the phrase: The Observer is the Observed, which sounds rather esoteric but is confirmed by physicist Dr. David Bohm. When observing subatomic particles scientists discovered that the very act of observing the particle actually had an affect on it --- meaning......our very awareness of something (focused attention) actually changes it.
Observing this "show" is indeed having an affect but whether the whole season gets pulled or has a long run is anybody's guess. Complete with sites like yours (the good guys) exposing the Illuminati (the bad guys), consumer zombies, fembots and clueless Liberals thickens the plot indeed. Not being a fan of TV in general.... no I would not watch it but I am "observing" it.......reluctantly. Modernity is one big show.
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Jim- I feel I'm in the show waiting for the gong.
My life has been a good one so far fighting the battle against the evil empire. My name is Jim R I live in Framingham Massachusetts. I produce four-hour long cable shows that air on local cable TV that basically do what you are doing but in video on TV. My shows deal with news topics from all over the internet that are very controversial and not shown on regular TV. One of my main topics has been the Holocaust Hoax and all things relating to it. Why I say my life is a reality show is because so far the Jews haven't had the balls to come after me for exposing their Hoax, which surprises me, as they took my show off the air in 2010 for a year. I guess they finally came to a realization that free speech is part of the fabric of life in the U. S. So the question remains how long will the Jews allow me to function? When will they make their move to use the forces to be to attack me and do whatever they can to take me down. I feel I'm in the show waiting for the gong. I have a lot of short videos on youtube and my longer shows are on RizoliTV1 on youtube.
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Christopher - No, it would be far too depressing for TV.
No, I would not want my life (at present) depicted in a reality show. The reason? Too depressing. An amazing movie, however, could be made tracing the incredible decline, in health-wealth-and stealth, of this American; who was once quite wealthy, healthy, traveled the world, and enjoyed an ample amount of privacy and dignity.
Some actions and choices could have been better. Yet, no amount of smart moves could «plan» for the poisoning of our air, food, and water. No amount of «planning» could predict the day when I would be surrounded by «Blue Pill» takers. And no amount of «planning» could figure out what to do with the incredibly high levels of poisonous, manmade radiation being unleashed upon the Earth... No, it would be far too depressing for TV. The Sheeple prefer lighter fare. Thanks New World Order!
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Andrew E - Don't need the ego endorphins that come from being "liked".
No. In the same way that I don't take photos at a museum or watch my nephew's Christmas concert through my camera screen rather than watching live in the moment.
It is this "living in the moment" that is so undervalued today. Sharing your every thought with the world for "likes" is the great inflation of ego and the staple of generation Y. It compromises and edits the thought process during inception as every thought starts with, "what would they think of __?" "This movie's great, I bet I can get 10 likes" "twitter would love this thought" .. And instead of sitting with our original thoughts and ideas we share them and await their reception, anticipating either silence or the ego endorphins that come from being "liked".
Fame or even reality show celebrity is like being on social media whenever you're in public; molding every gesture or articulation based on what the group finds pleasing. We lose the self within the crowd. Every girl who is passionate about renaissance art and every boy who is enticed by the circle of fifths in music may repress their passion for something more culturally acceptable. "How about those Grammy performances?"
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Dr. John - Nope, too boring and too many mistakes.
Now if it was a time machine and I could go back in time then that would be a different story
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Rollin - If? My life is a reality show, and I do watch it.
If? My life is a reality show, and I do watch it. The Manduka Upanishad (as I've condensed it into a haiku) says:
On a bough, two birds --
One eats the sweet fruit and one
Watches and eats not.
I should add that I virtually never watch TV. This has been true my whole life. As a result, I've never seen even a single "reality show," though of course I have a general idea (from the tabloids in the supermarket) of the Kardashians, Duck Dynasty, etc. But my interest in them is zero.
Because of that, at first I didn't relate to your invitation. But then I thought: living my life knowing it is being filmed and fed to the public so I can be a celebrity is my idea of unreality, not reality, whereas my own life (modest as it is) is real; at least, it's as real as I am willing to be. Life is real only when I am.
It's not only real, it's a "show," in the sense that I not only live it, I (but not the same "I") watch it. That's where the Manduka Upanishad comes in. It's a fable or parable, deliberately gnomic, written to produce an epiphany, and in condensing it, I tried to capture and preserve that quality. (The Upanishads are part of the Vedic scriptures, and are subject to different interpretations by different schools of Vedanta. I think it's better to let it remain a parable, though I did consider giving the haiku a title taken from another Upanishad: "Thou art that.")
As for haiku, you probably have a general idea of it. It's like a snapshot. No explanation, no rhyme or metrical pattern, no title It's not only a literary form, it's a way of perceiving and concentrating. I follow the traditional Japanese form, which I've defined as follows: Haiku: a poem Of three lines and seventeen Syllables. That's it.
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Thank you all! I will contact the winner of my upcoming collection ILLUMINATI3: SATANIC POSSESSION
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William said (April 4, 2014):
If you're taking votes, Michael is the hands down winner.
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Yes I awarded free books to him and Rollin.
h