I bought a “smart” tv today. Youtube was one of the things I wanted a smart tv for. YouTube has a lot of instructional videos and right now I’m into watching art lessons and workout shows.  I asked on Facebook “I bought a new smart tv, how do I get it to stream from my iPad or my laptop? What do I need for it to do that?”  The problem was I was asking the wrong question. I asked how to stream data from my iPad or laptop to the new tv, so that’s what everyone answered.  My question should have been, “How do I watch YouTube videos on my new smart tv?”  The answer would have been “click on the app.” But I didn’t ask that.  I didn’t know I was asking the wrong question.  So I spent several hours today unnecessarily involved in info gathering.

I could have just let Brighthouse set the new tv up for me, but I wanted to know how it all worked before I called them.  Since everything I experience in my life is a metaphor for internal work to be addressed, I don’t want to miss a powerful lesson. Learning about the new tv turned out to be a powerful lesson in mass communication — and MIS-communication.  How easy it can be for someone to think they are communicating one thing, and for someone else to think it’s something else entirely.

I spent a lot of time getting info about how to connect and the difference between Google Chromecast streaming media player or Roku streaming stick.  You use these small thumb- drive like devices to watch Netflix, YouTube, Amazon prime, etc. as well as free tv shows and movies.  I decided on Chromecast and bought it.  Then I spent a few hours trying to get it to set up, unsuccessfully.  However, I discovered I could watch YouTube!   I’m not tech savvy so I wasn’t really sure what an app was.  Until today.  Since my new smart tv came with all the apps installed, all I had to do was click on the icon and it would open it up for me.

That’s when I figured out that with a “smart” tv, I didn’t need Chromecast.  I can stream off my wi fi, which is connected directly to it.  The purpose of the media streaming sticks like Roku or Chromecast is to turn regular tvs into smart tvs.  Since I had some techies helping me and no one pointed that out to me, I felt like a genius for figuring it out.

So even though I asked the wrong question, and got led for hours down a path that wasn’t what I needed, what I learned is that when I have a question and am in need, there are a lot of friends who stand ready to help.  It’s up to me to ask the right question.