Time: there's never enough of it when I need it and then get antsy when I have too much of it. I enjoy feeling productive and as a woman of habit, I also like lists, agendas and rituals, but since the lay off my day-to-day has been lacking in anything resembling a schedule. Other than my Thursday night Italian class, my freelance life is free to shift and change at whim. Yes, it's liberating to be able to grab my laptop and turn in my assignments from anywhere in the city; to up and go from one WiFi hotspot to the next, meeting up with friends along the way. Yeah, no. A small part of me has been craving a full-time job if only for the routine I'd regain.So I set out to pack my weeks with more activities so I didn't feel like I was wasting my life away in front of my computer (because writing can seriously become a 24/7 job if you let it) and to get into some sort of rhythm. For starters, I started volunteering again, which is always a fulfilling experience no matter how much or little I do. For me, reading and playing with kids is a stress reliever like no other and you know what's the best part about it? In the end, the little rugrats go back home with their parents.
On Monday, I went to my first gym class at Equinox. I'm still recovering from that Body Sculpt class, but it felt great walking out of there showered and pumped (as well as famished) ready to take on the day ahead. Now I'm determined to take full advantage of my 30-day membership by adding yoga, meditation and cardio kickboxing to my week. (I'm still on the fence about swimming - especially in this weather.) It may sound like a lot, but when you realize classes are only an hour long, it's really not much and it has a positive influence on the rest of the day (not to mention its long-term benefits). Geez, I can't believe I'm all for hitting the gym now.
I'm still attending weekly writing group meetings with A. and recently met up with a new friend for an evening writing session in a wonderful coffee shop near Columbia University. I hope it also becomes a fixture in my schedule. But aside from all this I'm still trying to fit in one more important thing: my arts and crafts hobby! I haven't done any of it since I made my Christmas ornaments two months ago, so I must get back on it ASAP.
This is all sounds exhausting, I know, but I just love a busy schedule and it feels damn good to cultivate my life outside of work and dating. Hmm, maybe I should start checking out museum exhibits again... and art galleries... and photography...
Come to think of it, thank God I don't have a full-time otherwise I'd never have time for a life.
Happy to see that you are grabbing your life by the reigns and taking it wherever your spirit desires! That is awesome, and indeed, one of the benefits of not having a 9 to 5. Oh, and as a fellow writer, our work can definitely be a 24/7 gig, and I have to make myself incorporate other work besides my writing and my daughters, otherwise, I'd be a hermit writer up in the hills of Jamaica with an old-school typewriter and a total of 4 long locs on my head...lol!
ReplyDeleteWow. You are keeping busy. I'm always trying to pick up more work here and there and then I realize all I do is work. I burn out and have to recharge by doing all that you are doing. It's a great way to stay balanced.
ReplyDeleteGo to the pool. I jumped in the pool at the gym for the first time in several months, and my body feels oh so relaxed!
Oh I suck at "balanced." I'm always doing too much of one thing and not enough of another. It's hard staying fulfilled on both ends of the spectrum. I can't even imagine how professionals with families make it work. I can see my children starving and getting lost in a sea of laundry.
ReplyDeleteIt really is a good thing you don't have that full time job... There'd be no way to fit all that in if you did!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I only WISH I could spend my days the way you do!
ReplyDeleteOh it's all fun and games until you realize you need health insurance.
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