The title alone may have made you roll your eyes and suck your teeth at me, but hear me out. I’m not saying Scandal and Empire are horrible shows. I’m just saying I purposely choose not to watch them.

Mind you, this is coming from a girl who used to give virtually every reality show at least one try, so don’t think I’m not into drama. But I had to cut back and examine what I was letting into my mind.

Ummm… I Think I May Have a Problem

T.V. was slowly getting the best of me. I’d have a lineup of shows that I just had to hurry up and watch before the following week. I’d stay up way past bed time watching my recorded shows and procrastinate other things I needed to do to get my “reality show fix.”

That’s one of the reasons I don’t have cable or satellite anymore… way too many shows that will ultimately waste my time. (And I’m crazy cheap, so not paying $80 a month was pretty sweet too.) However, I still watched a lot of my shows online.

One of the “other things I needed to do” that often got the brunt of my procrastination was my daily devotionals. I wasn’t praying like I should have been, I wasn’t reading my Bible like I should have been, and I wasn’t focused on what really mattered in life.

Right around the start of the new year, my church conducted its yearly “solemn assembly” week. It’s a time where you fast from food for one meal, or something else that takes up your attention, and use that time to spend with God.

Since I’m not really a glutton (anymore), I decided to cut all ties with reality television for the whole week.

Operation Detoxification (Must… Shake …the Dramas!)

The first two days were rough. I was tempted to go to my usual websites and catch a glimpse of someone getting an ATL-style read session. I would have even settled for an old-fashioned wig tug. But alas, I was determined to stick with it and use my time to meditate and read the Bible.

Definitely worth it.

Life is so much easier to deal with when you have the right perspective. People at work don’t bother you as much, you tend to get over things quicker—it was just a great refresher of how things should be.

And then the week ended.

I was “allowed” to watch my coveted shows again, but… I didn’t want to go back to my old ways of being a slave to my computer monitor. I remember a few times that my eyes were red and achy with sleep. Instead of shutting down the computer and calling it a night, I’d try to wake myself up and watch one…. more… episode.

No. I can’t go back to that. That’s not even healthy, right?

What was worse is that I realized I was so focused on everyone’s life in Hollywood (or L.A., or Atlanta, or New Jersey, or New York, or Beverly Hills, or Orange County, or Miami… I told you I was a drama fiend! ) that I wasn’t totally focused on my own life.

What goals do I need to accomplish for myself? What hobbies do I need to pick up? How can I better utilize my time so that juggling family life and work life isn’t impossible? (Don’t you notice more of my blog posts? Thank watching less T.V. for that. )

Time to Reflect (Oh Be Careful Little Eyes…)

Being away from T.V. not only allowed me to refocus on me, it allowed me to realize that what I was watching added zero educational value to my life.

I’m all for guilty pleasures, but when 85% of the shows I was watching could be classified as “trash,” I had to reevaluate some things.

I had to make sure what I watched had some type of good morals, no profanity/vulgarity, and was just something that I wouldn’t mind anybody from any age walking in and watching with me.

Insert Scandal and Empire (the point of this blog.)

When I first heard about Scandal, I thought I’d be all in. But after people told me the premise of the story, I became disinterested.

“Sooo… you’re rooting for the mistress and hate the wife?”

No, ma’am. I’m a fan of the wife. Couldn’t pick her out of a lineup, but wife over mistress any day. What kind of side chick celebration is this? Oh well. Like I said, that’s all I heard about the show to get me disinterested. I didn’t want to catch myself slowly trying to justify why a mistress should rise to the title of heroine.

And now to Empire.

Like always, I waited until reviews of the show to see if I would be adding another drama to my playlist.

From what I gathered from commercials and fan reviews: Taraji Henson doesn’t like wearing too much fabric, she’s trying to break up her ex’s home, and the family business is a bit corrupt.

Yes, I know the storyline is more elaborate than that, but I don’t watch so that’s all I could take from it. Again, not something that I wanted to get caught up in.

In its defense, I hear the music on the show is great. But to hear the music, I’d have to watch the show. You can’t reel me in that easily, FOX! Haha!

Not to mention, most fans of Scandal and Empire act like addicts! They’re all in, preparing their week around the show, cutting off all communication when the show is on, and then twitching of anticipation when the show ends. (You good, bro?)

I, too, have been there. I’ve went through my withdrawal phase; but sobriety is a beautiful thang, and I plan to stay there.

Guilty Pleasures

What do I watch now? The news. I always have. It’s in my blood. It was my profession.

Other than that, I watch maybe two shows faithfully (whatever two Real Housewives franchises are on). Yup… my guilty pleasures. At least my “trash T.V” went from 85% to 5%.

Before someone starts defending themselves, stop feeling so guilty! LOL. I’m not saying all people who watch these types of shows are immoral, lazy bums. All I’m saying is I was convicted to make changes in my life, and we all need to do some reevaluating at times.

T.V. was what I had to refocus. What about you?