When I first moved into the flat I live in now I had a television forced upon me by someone who couldn’t imagine living without one. At that point I hadn’t watched any tv for at least two years and it felt very strange at first.

Twenty years later I sat one morning watching the news and wondered why I was doing it. I knew that as soon as it finished I’d be flicking round the channels looking for something to have going on the background as I vainly tried to do other things. It was moving wallpaper.

I had a short break from watching it then lockdown due to the Coronavirus pandemic begun and I found myself watching it more. I bought a DVD player and watched boxsets on that and on the subscription networks.

Books I picked up to read were often laid to one side and music was played less often and that’s when I realised I’d let television take over my life once more.

This week I decided to watch a couple of soaps because there’s always some kind of huge story line at Christmas Day. I realised that I was checking in a TV magazine to see what time they were on and I needed to catch up on them. I looked at the pile of books I’ve been reading and realised that I had barely finished one in the whole time I’d been watching television again.

The damned thing is now in the storage room and will probably be in a charity shop soon. My living space has been rearranged to enhance my reading experience and make listening to music more pleasurable. 

Lesson learned? I hope so.