I read. A lot. I also drink wine. Not in the quantity I devour books, but I definitely enjoy a glass on a Friday night cuddled with Hubs while we watch a movie. I like camping in our RV, too. Though each like is different, and some more costly than others, my likes all have one thing in common: money.
Very little in life is free. Love, maybe, but only after a certain amount of cash is invested in dinner dates and movie nights. Then there’s the wedding, and don’t even get me started on the cost of children. Children are one of the most expensive joys in the world. Not that I’d ever return mine for a deposit. Do they come with deposits?
Never mind. Back to business.
What inspired this post was not my love for books, or wine, RVing, or my children, but Hubs’ enjoyment, specifically in watching Game of Thrones. For those of you living in an electronic-free cave or jail cell, Game of Thrones is a televised mini-series based on the monstrously-bestselling book series written by George R. R. Martin.
Full of fantasy and fraught with lies, deception, and cruelty, Game of Thrones is also steeped in family, friendship, and fealty; love, betrayal, lust, and loss; rousing battles, bloodshed, birth, and renewal. Hubs has been hooked from the first episode of season one. And when he realized season eight was about to start, he was thrilled—right up until he realized he’d have to pay an additional $20.00/mo to add the HBO channel to our existing TV menu.
Dear Reader, he wasn’t going to do it. He didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to add an additional $20.00/mo to an already ridiculously high TV/Internet bill. So…
I made him.
Quite rationally, and realistically, I pointed out that he’d think nothing of spending $60.00 on dinner out with me, so why not stay in, and spend that money instead on three months of HBO? He had no answer, just shrugged. But I know.
Dear Reader, I know why he hesitated. Hedged. Resisted the notion of tossing another $20 on a teetering tower of fixed costs—guilt. He didn’t want to burden me with the extra cost come bill-due time. Didn’t believe he deserved to spend an additional $20 on something he loved.
He’s wrong.
$20/mo is a small price to pay for something that brings him great joy, opens a world to adventure and imagination; a portal to a world much grittier and grimmer than that we live in; perfect escape from the day-to-day drudge of keeping a roof over our family’s heads and food on the table when he’d really rather carry a sword and axe and ride dragons to battle.
I’m not an advocate of wasteful spending. Cigarettes, vape, casinos—I have zero use for them. They’re wasteful health and money pits. But books? Movies? Sports? Art?
Anything that moves the soul and stirs the blood, churns the imagination, and excites the mind, moves the body, and gets the blood pumping, is worth investing in.
$2.00 for an eBook, $20.00 top-up on a cable bill, $200 to see a favourite music artist in concert… If you have the money, or can round it up by sacrificing a less desirable want—or better yet, a harmful money suck—go for it. Life is short, so feed your healthy pleasures.
Deborah
He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before crossing.
~Horace
