Binge Living

Prior to this moment, I have had a binging lifestyle. In college, as is unfortunately and unwisely common, I did a fair bit of binge drinking. Currently, I eat too fast and often feel over-full and uncomfortable after eating and even though I don't meet the medical definitions for binge eating, I consider this binging as well. This morning, I've recognized another element of binging - media binging.

I've written about my love of Law and Order, but even I didn't realize how strong its grip on me is. I reviewed my viewing history on Netflix and counted at least 6 episodes one day. The episodes run about 40 minutes, so that's 6 x 40 = 240 minutes or 4 hours. Four hours. Watching Law and Order. One day. That's a lot of Law and Order. I've almost watched everything that Netflix has available. By some strange quirk, I am unable to enjoy watching these out of order, so I'm happy and lucky that Netflix doesn't have everything up to the current season, so I have to wait and can't get hooked to watching it on television.

Another form of media binging is blogs. There are several blogs that I follow and a few that I've started reading backwards, forwards, crosswise and inside out. Christine Kane's beautiful blog is one such. I'm enjoying jumping from post-to-post, reading related entries and then jumping to another random one. This binging seems a bit healthier than food or alcohol or television, but I am aware that I am not and could not possibly be digesting all that is coming at me. Would it be better to miss some posts in order to really ruminate on another?

Can one really get too much personal growth or spiritual work? When I stopped working with my transformational educator several years ago, I certainly thought so. I was a little "worked out" on that front - not quite burned out, but certainly overtrained and underexperienced. I felt like I needed to take some time to assimilate and practice all that I'd learned. It's been several years and seems like my quick attachment to this series might indicate readiness for another guide or more structured form of learning.

Teacher, I am ready, open and grateful for your kind and gentle lessons.