My son is reading a book right now called Maze Runners. He was extremely excited to start reading this as he loves science fiction. But something happened to him tonight, he got to a chapter where there is a boy (teenager I believe) that essentially was poisoned and sent out of the group & left to die.   Well, with the values we have instilled in our children and with my son being who he is, this made him very upset and angry. So much though that he wanted to throw the book away.

The reason he was so upset was a) the thought of that happening in real life made him very sad and b) he couldn’t understand why someone would even right about something horrible like that. The thought of a person being capable of things let alone writing about them made him angry. And THAT got me thinking….

Why do we put that energy out there? Why do we love to watch scary movies like Hunger Games, Divergent, & other movies along those lines, read thriller books, get hooked on the awful TV shows like Bones, NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order, and all the other tv shows alike?  Are we encouraging this unbelievable behavior in our world because it is what sells?

I am not one of those parents who blame tv, movies, or video games for the actions of people, BUT I am one of those moms who does not allow video games where there is murder or physical assault. I DO believe that when we see it enough, we become numb to it and in so doing we are less likely to respect the life that surrounds us.

So onto tonight’s main topic: How to respect the spirit while enjoying those types of entertainment.

The way I see it, we can either allow those forms of entertainment to consume us and alter our values, we can enjoy them for what they are (entertainment) while maintaining our values, or we can choose to not allow them into our world.

When my children ask me if they can watch a certain movie/show or read a book the only thing that I even think about is “How is this going to effect their ‘beingness’?” What I mean by that is, will this [book or movie/show] change the way they see the world for better or worse?

I recently read a study that stated that 50% of how a person thinks about themselves & the world around them (this is called their programming) is already determined by the time they are 8 years old, 80% by the time they are 13 years old, and 95% by the time they are 18 years old!  What this means is if I as a parent allow them to see the negative things that exist in our world at too young an age this will become a permanent part of their view on the world, but if I continue to fill their world with love & honor their spirit then they will essentially have a view of love in the world. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to shelter them from the world because then they will have a very hard time adjusting as an adult, but it is about balance and timing.

Obviously my son is learning that there are people out there that turn our nightmares into entertainment, but that doesn’t make them bad. How I explained it to him was like this, every spirit is made up of energy, and each energy comprises of dark & light. Therefore each spirit has good and bad, it is up to us to decide how we want our energy to be used. There is nothing wrong with writing or creating entertainment. We as people choose to watch the scary movie knowing we will be scared, we choose to see the romantic drama knowing we will cry, we choose to read certain books knowing what the baseline is about. It is not as though they place a picture of a happy bunny on the cover and lie to us.

Just as we know these things, we must also know that it doesn’t change us. And if he really wanted to make a difference then he should write a book filled with love & make that a best seller so less people will buy the “horrifying” books (that made him smile & get a little motivated) 🙂

In the end each of us still has a pure heart & spirit and choosing to watch a movie, show, or read a book that doesn’t necessarily align with our values doesn’t mean we are “lost” or turning bad. There is no such thing.

So love yourself, love your spirit, and enjoy your entertainment but PLEASE protect your children’s developing programs and introduce them to things as they grow & as they are ready. ❤