Sunday, June 24, 2012

The Big Break-Up

[I WAS GOING TO POST THIS ON LIVEJOURNAL BUT IT IS DOWN RIGHT NOW, I WILL POST THIS TO MY OFFICIAL JOURNAL LATER...]

So, for some of you this may not be as big of a shock as for others. For most of you, I'm sure you can't really understand my reasoning behind this but I will go into detail anyway just so that I am clear that I tried my best to get it across.

The end of this summer will mark the end of my relationship with Dramas.

In fact, starting now--today--it's pretty much over. All we have are some loose ends to tie up. In other words I will be watching/finishing two dramas and two dramas only: Big and either Arang OR Faith. I haven't decided yet which one will be better.

And just to get this out there: No, this was not planned and no, I do not suddenly hate dramas. Yes, I went on a drama hiatus about two weeks ago and it was supposed to be temporary. I did not imagine I would make it (mostly) permanent.

In all honesty, I never really imagined giving up dramas...ever. I'm not even sure I know how to explain this.

Over the last few months my perspective has dramatically changed. Although the events that have brought this about have been tragic, the outcome is what counts. And that outcome is that I now have a much clearer understanding on what is--and is not--important in life.

That's not to say that some of the unimportant stuff is bad. Like dramas (which I would say are extremely low on the importance chain). I don't consider them bad at all and they are, in and of themselves, much better than most of the television out there and mostly harmless. But like most things, it's not what it is made of that makes it unhealthy or bad, it's what you do with it.

I don't just casually watch dramas. In fact, I don't even think I could if I really tried to. Why? Because they are a continuous story. You don't just sit down for one or two hours a week, watch it, and then move on with your life. Each show takes up hours. Not only that, but it takes up hours of thinking time too--especially if you watch more than one at a time. I used to look at this as, "Eh. Whatever, if I had something better to do, I'd do it...but alas look at all this free time..."

And, honestly? I still have all that free time and nothing to fill it. I don't want to just kick out dramas only to fill their spot with something else. What that means, even I am not too sure yet. I'm still figuring that part out.

What I do know is, were I to even put limits on myself with dramas (for example, only one episode a night or even one episode a week) it will be just as bad. I will think about them even more. I will look forward to the time I get to watch a new episode more than I look forward to anything else. As it was, dramas defined me. And that is a bad thing. That is the shell I am going to break. I want to be defined by something meaningful and not something temporary.

And when I say break, I mean it. No more Dramabeans. No more A Koala's Playground. I'm even going to go so far as to ask people not to talk about dramas with me if they can help it. I don't mean you have to be all anxious every time dramas get brought up in a conversation. Especially if it is just a reference to something here and there, or if you want to just describe this hilarious scene or that really cute moment, etc. etc. Just no in-depth conversations. Although I am more than happy to discuss dramas I've already seen. It's just that, if everyone around me is talking about this new show or that, can you imagine how hard it will be for me to not watch it?

Because the truth is: I still love dramas. I still want to watch dramas.

I hope I can get to a point in my life some day where I can just sit down and watch a show, and move on. And not want to watch more. And not think about it. Maybe I will even watch the occasional drama here and there if I'm watching it with friends. Maybe. But for right now, I see my future with dramas as no dramas.

I also wanted to clear this up: I am not going to judge anyone because they are watching dramas and I'm not now. I'm not going to go around thinking, "Oh, look who still watches dramas. How pathetic." Not at all. This is a personal decision. If you don't feel like dramas are unhealthy for you, that's awesome. If you (honestly) want my personal opinion on whether or not I think they are, or why I think it matters, I'll tell you. But only if you want, and not out of bitterness or grumpiness. As for me, I don't want to keep asking myself, "Is this important? Does this have a purpose for me? Will this be useful for my life?" And keep coming up with negative answers. I want to be positive, and I want my life to reflect that.

As a final note: this does not mean I won't watch movies. I'm still so on for movies.

So that's it!