So how is the grand experiment of turning off the TV going? It’s hard to judge at this time but I want to say that I’m progressing a bit. I’m not as productive as I would like to be but that’s because I’ve been suffering with a terrible winter cough—again—so it’s been dragging me down. (All you Northerners are probably laughing at me saying the world winter.)
The other problem is that I think I’ve substituted one addiction with another as I’m reading a lot more than I used to. I’ve always been a book worm but now I find, because of the new Nook, that I’m reading when I should be balancing the cheque book and other miserable tasks. So I’m still procrastinating but with a much more intelligent past time. Or so I think. I did used to watch a lot of documentaries whereas I’m mostly reading fiction. There’s a fine line here and I’m not sure if I crossed it.
So what have I done? I started stripping down Bruce’s dresser to match the one we did six years ago. Needless to say, Bruce is finishing that job. I did get all the paint off it but since I seemed to be taking too long, Bruce is rightly getting annoyed with his clothes being in two drawers on the floor, and took over the job. Check that task off! I did clean out my bead drawers in anticipation of making some jewelry. That was last weekend and I haven’t made any yet. But I will! This weekend was a bust because I had to take a nap on Saturday after I went and took photos at the cemetery (I’m cataloging our local cemetery for www.findagrave.com.) and I went grocery shopping today. Seriously, this cough tires me out and I can only do one thing at a time. But I am getting better, slowly, very slowly.
I haven’t turned off the TV completely. There are a few shows that I can’t live without and I watch them over the internet and I have noticed that my attention span is getting shorter. I started watching some shows on Hulu and couldn’t finish them because I was getting antsy. That’s a good sign. Then there are the others that I just can’t do anything else while I’m watching, like “Who Do You Think You Are.” I love that show. I met someone at the cemetery that just started working on her family history because of that show. As a genealogist that excites me and I just had to talk her ear off!
Sometime though, I just don’t know what to do with myself. I sit at the kitchen table and just stare out the window. Because, honestly, there are some times that I just want to veg out and I can’t. I can read but I end up falling asleep after awhile. What I have caught myself doing during those times is going online to Facebook and I mean going on a lot.
I don’t know how to balance myself between doing something and keeping busy and doing nothing. It’s seems to be all or nothing with me. I had all these high ideas of what I was going to do with all my free time and all I end up doing is chatting with people on Facebook. I think I’ve substituted one bad habit with another.
But did I? First, the people that I’m chatting with are my relatives that live far away. I love talking to my great-nieces and hearing what’s going on in their lives so far away. I didn’t have that connection before Facebook. Yes, I spent an hour chatting with my nephew the other day instead of cleaning off my pigsty of a desk but that moment was exactly that…a moment…that was spontaneous and a good conversation with an amazing young man. That, my friend, is priceless and, I think, I good use of my time. So my desk is still a mess, and I’ve not repotted all my plants, and my bookshelf is caving in from all the dust. That’s not what matters in life, family, friends, and living life is.
