When people say that life is about the little things, I have to agree. Life is about that moment of stirring your creamer into your coffee, that fraction of a second when the white of the creamer seeps into the somber black when the two liquids aren't stirred to be one yet but still figuring each other out. Or that first day of spring when the sun is finally out after not seeing it for months on end due to the harsh and gloomy winter when your skin rightly soaks up the vitamin D it has been deprived of for months on end. In those little, seemingly insignificant moments that often times go overlooked in the general chaos of the world it is nice to take a breath and appreciate that those mundane actions that make life what it is. No actions seem as commonplace, uninteresting, and underappreciated as channel surfing. A past time we have all (hopefully) partaken in and one we will all continue to participate in, even if we are flipping through Netflix suggestions instead of between TLC or MTV.
As a child, there was nothing quite like the feeling of waiting until 7:30 when whatever hot Disney channel show of the month was going to be on. That anticipation. That excitement. Gee, I wonder what's going to happen to little Debby this week as she navigates the hard, yet compassionate halls of middle school. Now, there is something to say for that excited anticipation of turning on the TV, knowing exactly what channel to go to, and exactly what show you are going to watch. However, there is also something to say for the buzz of nervousness at aimlessly turning on the TV with nowhere to go to; no channel in mind, no particular show or movie in mind, nothing. Just your fingers, the remote, and whatever the television guide has planned for you.
That moment on a Saturday morning, when you don't quite want to get out of your pajamas but you're not sleeping anymore...that is a picture-perfect situation for a classic channel surfing session. Or maybe a Sunday night, when the dread of the week to come is seeping in to your bones and it feels like it will never leave, it is in those quiet, calming moments of wandering through the endless TV channels that a feeling of openness to the pandemonium of the week to come settles upon you. If I can flip through all these channels and find something to watch, then I can conquer anything. Now, that's the right attitude.
It is within that little, at first inconsequential point in time of channel surfing or browsing through Netflix options that a whole world of possibilities opens up. Within that aimless wondering, there is the slight chance of finding your next binge-watching obsession, your new favorite movie, or even a re-watching of a long forgotten classic that you haven't seen in years. With no particular genre, movie, actor, actress, director, or series in mind the possibilities truly become endless and there is something fantastical about the open-ended quality of channel surfing.
In a way, it is like going to the airport with no destination in mind, showing up and browsing all the different cities before finally just picking one last minute. Jumping aboard the plane, hoping you made the right choice and that the city is everything you thought it would be. Or, pressing play on a new movie or show, waiting for the black screen to be painted with color and noise, hoping that after almost an hour of scrolling through a never-ending amount of options that you made the right choice and whatever you are about to watch is as great as you thought it was going to be. And even if it was not as great as you once thought, at least for those few minutes channel surfing there was a tiny moment of calm knowing that the world (television) was yours for the taking and any decision you made was the right one because there was no particular destination in mind.
So, the next time you are sitting at home or traveling far distances and need something to watch instead of freaking out over not knowing what to watch take a minute to appreciate the act of purposelessly flipping through channels or Netflix options. Take a minute to soak the whole experience in the way your thumb softly pushes the button of the remote looking for the next possibility, the way your eyes glide across the screen reading the title and descriptions displayed, or the way your heart leaps when you finally decide on what to watch. The next time you go to watch TV take a minute to thank the underappreciated moments of channel surfing.
