“It provokes the desire but it take away the performance.”

— MacBeth, William Shakespeare

Shakespeare was talking about drink, but there is another elixir that provokes desire while it takes away performance – entertainment.

Our non-stop, 24-hour culture of titillation. It provokes, it excites, it arouses emotion, it makes us feel and desire.

It captivates us and it captivates us.

When we watch passively, we are captive. Captives of an endless stream of sensory input which strengthens it’s stranglehold on our curiosity, creativity, and performance.

In our house, the captor is not television, who was long ago imprisoned and released occasionally on furlough. No, in our house, the captor is Netflix.

It is an endless stream of cartoons, reality shows and fast-moving images. To this parent’s dismay, it has the power to captivate our children.

Until today.

This morning, I pulled the plug on Netflix. I cancelled it’s captivation. I stopped it’s stream. I manacled the monster.

Oh, there will be cries from the community. Screams of ‘unfair’ and ‘nothing to do’.

But I hope in time those choruses will be muted by the gift I gave.

The gift of time.

Once released from Netflix’s maniacal grip, there is opportunity to create, to develop, to think and to perform. Once free, there is time to craft, to discover, to talk and to peruse.

For now, my children are free.

Until another Blockbuster stream captivates them …

Cancelled Netflix. Gave time.