We’ve all been a little (try a lot) distracted this month, so rather than scrap our monthly condition post we’ve just decided to post it now (very, very late) and talk about the things that distract us.
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Man oh man am I busy. That’s a fact. But who is to say which parts of my life are the distractions and which are the real things that I should be focused on? Sure finding a job and applying for health insurance are things I need to do, but isn’t spending time with my mother watching a television show we both love just as important? Since I’m about to move out my parents’ house for good I have to buy a new bed for my new place and stock up on groceries, but I also have photos from my spring trip to Paris and Spain and Ireland that my friends have been not so patiently waiting to see. Which is the distraction? Should I work to submit my photobook vouchers that expire at the end of the month or to finish the half written blog posts that never seem done? Should I spend my time working out or catching up on the news, cleaning the bathroom or trying to get a letter of recommendation? All I really want to do is to organize my room by sewing up another t-shirt quilt and scrapbooking all my high school boxes, but with so many other things with actual deadlines I just never feel ahead. And as if these distractions aren’t enough, throw other people into the mix and you’ve got one super unfocused person. You already know I spent an unreasonable portion of my summer preparing for my friend’s wedding, and you won’t believe how much time I’ve spent helping my brother with school and housing and everything else in his life. I write letters to friends, head out on hikes to catch up and go on trips just because I think they’ll appreciate it. My friend is going through a bad breakup and I’m even part of a secret Facebook group called Support Our Friend where we come up with ways we can help her. I could easily spend my whole life distracted by other people. But as distracting as friendships are, they’re worth it and as never ending as my projects are, they matter to me. Sure, I feel constantly distracted, like I should always be somewhere else doing something else, but I also always feel accomplished, because I’m constantly working to check things off my list. If I go on Facebook it’s to strengthen a friendship, if I am washing the dishes I’m making my family proud, if I make a scrapbook I’m de-cluttering my life. It’s true, all these things distract me from figuring out a career and a future, but all the things I choose to do make me who I am. And it’s exciting to realize that no matter what I do, nothing can distract me from that.
-Sleeping Booty
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Unlike any school I’ve ever attended, my current school had a two-week break at the beginning of October, so I got to go visit Merskank in the U.K. and relax for a while, which was really nice after a whirlwind first month of work. But for the last week it’s been back to school and back to the grindstone. I can tell you that I have a huge to-do list, with most of the items being school related. This is just part of life as a teacher—the work never ends. Luckily, I like doing what I do, so it doesn’t stress me out to have two novel units just getting off the ground and another one (on a book I haven’t actually gotten around to reading) imminently approaching, plus a social studies course, applying for a lead teacher position, an afterschool club, and other assorted responsibilities. Well, it doesn’t stress me out too much. Other than work, there isn’t too much to distract me, honestly. My husband and I are both in a busy season professionally, so we pretty much come home, collapse, cuddle for a few minutes, and then engage in what I like to call garden therapy. We walk around the backyard, look at the veggie plants just starting to sprout up (and our banana tree, which is just starting to bear fruit!) and talk about our days. And then…we have dinner and are in bed by 9 p.m., ready to do it all the next day. It’s busy, but it sure beats being unemployed!
-Cinderslut
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Distractions. Right now I feel like I’m letting life itself be a distraction. Lately I’ve been feeling that its time for me to make some job/career changes, but I hate the thought of applying to jobs and so I let my normal “busy life” be an excuse/distraction to keep me from actually putting effort towards making positive changes in my life. I will always be busy, so it’s not really a good excuse, but if I have to focus on work for 40 hours a week, and my home/social life for the rest of the time, than I can distract myself from the part of me that wants more. I know that it will get harder to keep that part of me silent, but at the same time, my fear of change and risk can be pretty loud as well. It’s definitely not a good long term solution, but it’s just so easy to do. And don’t all of us to some extent let the comfort of our everyday lives distract us from pursuing our goals and dreams? It is easier to consume yourself in the small dramas of everyday life than to ask yourself what you really want. Because if you ask yourself what you really want, one of two things will happen. Either you will realize that you have no idea what you really want (which is frustrating), or you will recognize what you really want but realize that getting there will be huge challenge and you don’t know if you have the guts to go through with it( which is terrifying). So when we come to that point, what do we do? We pretend like we never had the thought in the first place and go back to distracting ourselves. But a life of distraction is not a very full life, and secretly we all know it. The question is—what are we going to do about it? What will I do about it? At this point, I’m really not sure.
-Snow Whore
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Merskank has been the busiest of all of us lately what with TEACHING at Oxford, writing her thesis, and being a supportive friend, daughter, and girlfriend. Her answer to this question is yet to come.
Man! I feel even busier after reading these. And over here my weekend has just ended and I’m facing another week of work! Ah! But I appreciate everything that was said. Love you guys!