Why I love TV

I know I don't watch nearly as much TV as some of you, and most of what I DO watch is nearly universally seen as complete crap, but I still get really into the shows that I watch.

Let's be clear, here. I don't vote during reality shows. Ever. Gotta draw the line somewhere. But I get upset when people I like get kicked off shows (Carla from Top Chef, love you!), get ecstatically happy when good things happen (most things on Glee!), and sometimes even shed a tear (remember when Mondo on Project Runway started talking about having the HIV? SNIFFLES).

The real reason, my friends, that I get so emotionally invested in TV shows is because I don't get emotionally invested in much else.

Initially, that statement said "the reason people like me get so emotionally invested," but to be honest I haven't met anyone else like me (if you're out there though, call me, let's start a support group).

Seriously, though. I do experience emotions, but I don't seem to go through the same highs and lows that other people do. When I'm happy it's more of a "yay!" then a jump up and down and scream and shout kind of reaction. I have one of those big full blown out cries maybe once a year. I'm honestly not even sure I've had one since 2009.

I realize that this is more about the fact that I don't SHOW my emotions than the fact that I don't actually FEEL them, but sometimes I think the two are related. Yes, I keep most things inside, but how much can you internalize sadness before it bursts out of you and turns into crying? The answer is, not THAT much. And I know this because I'm an excellent internalizer and even I have been through super rough periods where I've cried every day.

THE POINT IS, most of the time I just kind of breeze through life, taking it all in and never having extremely strong reactions to anything. Television, in a weird kind of way, allows me to experience emotions from the safe distance of not-anything-to-do-with-my-life. So I'm not personally invested in it. It's like practice, or playing pretend. I can get into my show, react all I want, and then move on.

This is possibly not healthy but if I'm not going to super emotional in my own life, I think it's better to express things as a reaction to TV than it is to not have an outlet for them at all. Right? Right.