My Movie Routine by Cee Lopes

 Just watched a movie at home. Immediately following that, watched an hour and a half of the extras included on the DVD. Then went on the internet. Looked up the cast, the director, the screenwriter, the film scorer, etc. etc. In the age of information, this has become my usual routine.
  At first it was what I wanted to do and it felt like good fun. It seemed like a harmless (albeit time consuming) indulgence, a bit of sweet after the meal. But now it's become more of a bad habit, an obligation, a mindless grab of greedy gathering. My time for relaxation and entertainment is now riddled with anxiety. "I must follow every last trail of information to the end of where?" I don't know. To the end of nowhere? To the end of time?
 Lately, I've been exercising the discipline of saving some of "the other stuff" for later. I'll watch the movie tonight and save the extras for tomorrow. I'll listen to a few songs by a new band without having to hear every single note they've ever recorded. I'll wait to go on their website and hold off reading all of the thousands of articles or reviews written about them.
  This has been working fine for me and has helped to bring back a sense of immediacy to the things I like to do. The sense of mystery, of not knowing "everything", is something precious and something worth tending to.