Journal 4

Bill McKibben looked at the difference between spending twenty-four hours watching TV and twenty-four hours in the mountains. He claims that people buy simply for the pleasure of the act itself. He continues by stating in the woods there is no way to spend money. I thought this concept to be interesting, but I wanted to take it from a different angle. One can obviously see that being in the mountains brings many different sensations than watching TV. I have traveled to the Smokey Mountains a few times in my life. The atmosphere that surrounds you when hiking up a mountain is incredible. It is something you can’t receive by watching TV or by walking around town. The trees, crisp air, wildlife, and breathtaking views provide feelings of reality. When watching TV those feelings of reality dwindle because people get so lost in the TV that many times they don’t even realize people are talking to them. I’m sure there are many times after spending a day doing nothing than watch TV that you say to yourself what am I doing with my life?? Watching TV all day or for hours can make you feel lazy and unproductive. Hiking in the mountains is just the opposite you need to put forth effort in order to get anywhere. This effort that one puts forth brings a sense of accomplishment. Also one can have rewarding experiences with hiking, whereas watching TV there is not much that can be rewarding.
Another thought is the difference between watching a sport on TV compared to playing that sport yourself. Yes, you can have some appreciation about how skillful the professional players are, but not as much when you try and play it yourself. For example, I was watching tennis the other day and thought to myself those players are pretty good. The next day I went up to the tennis courts and “tried” to play tennis and realized how difficult the sport is and how much more I appreciated the professional’s talent. When you play the sport yourself one experiences fatigue, sweat, and hard work. These experiences can’t be noticed just by watching TV.