TSK Ex. 16 — TSK on the Conventional Level

This is probably really dumb, who cares about TV habits, but I’ll share it anyway.

My TV died. Oh, the cost to replace!! Suddenly, it dawned on me I was without a mode of entertainment. I noticed my agitation over the hole in my routine. My normal way of ‘passing time‘ in the evening was to be carried along by the changing programs; the news and flickering images, and my favorite shows where familiar characters are placed in different situations each week, and so on. But now I was faced with an oncoming blank in that routine for an indeterminate time, until replacement. What would I do to fill the empty hole?

TSK exercise 16 came to mind. Rather than worry about an imagined future crowd-up with worries, I let them be ‘space‘. That opened the future. Suddenly, everything was light, even buoyant. I seemed centered in the present, and noticing all the things around me I’d been ignoring; the green leaves turned yellow, waving and dropping from the trees, but they were space too. The field beyond of old corn who’s contours seemed to undulate — more space. There was no grabbing at anything. It occurred to me the current situation called for investigation into the purchase of a new TV. The idea didn’t seem to come from an ego wanting, but from the situation, like noticing you are hungry, and so you eat. That night I read a book. No TV wasn’t so bad. The next day I went out and ordered the TV that I researched. It will take a week to get. Meanwhile, I’ll keep practicing exercise 16. :-)
David