Out of the Loop...

When I was in Elementary School, all my friends worshiped The Spice Girls.
In Middle School, they fell in love with N*sync or The Backstreet Boys.
THE radio station that ALL my friends sang along with: Hot 101

I, on the other hand, listened to news reports on NPR.
Or Christian talk shows on WORD radio, the Christian station out of Pittsburgh, PA.
I can still remember trying to explain to my friends what classical music was, and that no, I didn't mean classic rock.

Now, keep in mind, I was 9 or 10. I didn't turn on the radio and look for a station I liked. I just listened to whatever my parents wanted to listen to.

Now that I'm older, I do a lot more thinking on my own, but I've still kept the same apathetic attitude toward my media diet. The books I read are usually either assigned or recommended. The movies I watch are the ones my friends show me. The music I listen to is whatever is available--if I don't like it right away, I usually learn to like it eventually.

I'm not sure what the cause of this is. Perhaps it's a lack of curiosity. Maybe it's simply laziness! I think part of it is a subconscious fear of exposing myself to "bad things." It would by no means be a stretch to describe my life as "sheltered," and I think that is as much my own fault as it is my parents'. The words of the Apostle Paul haunt me: "Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, excellent, or praise-worthy--think about such things." How do I know what is true or right or pure before I watch, read, or listen to it?

The question that I've been asking myself since the start of this class is this: What am I missing? By living a lifestyle that's very low on media intake, am I missing something important? I'm content and happy, and I like to think I'm living a purposeful life, but when it comes to what's going on in the world of news and entertainment, I'm terribly uneducated. The problem is that I honestly don't have the time (or desire, actually) to keep up with the latest music, TV shows, movies, and news. And my question is whether or not I'm wrong to feel this way.

So throughout this course, I want to keep an open mind--see what I'm supposed to learn, what applies to my life. So far, this has been a challenge. I know the things we're discussing are important issues. I also know that different forms of mass media have more influence on my life than I realize--a thought that is somewhat disconcerting. The challenge is making myself care about the things we're discussing and then actively involving myself in those discussions!