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reality television, because reality bites

I gave up trashy, reality television for Lent. This more or less means that TLC, MTV, VH1, and E! don't exist in our home currently. It's been hard. I like the noise in the background. Bravo has been pretty hit as well. This has become an issue at the gym.

Our gym doesn't get more than a handful of stations. My options when doing cardio are either E! (out), Bravo (out), sports (ugh), or the news. On the days that I can't just focus on my music, I watch the news. I've discovered why I like reality television better than the news. The news is never happy.

The Houston NBC affiliate has a recurring segment called "It's Trending!" that comes at the end of the 5 pm broadcast. It's by and large my favorite part of the hour, sandwiched between the local murders, robberies, and tragedies and the greater sadness that Brian Williams will bring at 5:30. This week alone there's been an oil spill in Houston, a devastating mudslide in Washington, the heartbreaking reality that MH370 wasn't going to be found, and what feels like the beginning of either a new Cold War or a return to appeasement. This is among the typical onslaught of images of refugees, homeless, sick, old, poor, oppressed, and just overall terrible people being in positions of power.

And this is what makes the broadcast news.

NPR, al-Jazeera, BBC, and a slew of bloggers, many of whom are reporting on religious happenings (because that's how I roll) publish content that can dwarf the 30 second soundbites. Even Buzzfeed. For the love of all, even Buzzfeed has bad news. Linda Holmes is one of the few things on NPR I consistently know will break a smile. And I suppose Buzzfeed for the most part is humorous. And #pinterestfails.

But I digress.

I miss reality television because actual reality is sad. It's horrifying. It makes me want to escape into a reality that has been carefully scripted by Hollywood writers and directors. One that is polished and timed perfectly. Part of me wants to believe that this scripted reality is actual reality because things happen the way I want them to in this world. But that isn't the world and it's what "It's Trending" hints at. The reality I want to believe in is something trendy and easy to partition out in short increments. Actual reality is hard.

Maybe that's the reason I"m happy that I gave up reality television for Lent. When I'm watching the news instead of Millionaire Matchmaker (don't judge), I'm reminded that the world is broken. We're supposed choose something for Lent that reminds us of the need for Easter. Being confronted with the news is my daily reminder of why Easter is important and Lent is hard.

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