A Change of Pace

The weather has decided to give me a taste of autumn and I'm loving it. Yesterday and today we had nice, cool temps and rain showers on and off. Of course, the only thing I wanted to do was go home and write, but the day job calls.

I've really been enjoying Brenda Ueland's If You Want to Write. There's something about her pace that is so easy-going and refreshing to read. I feel energized and inspired after I read only a few of her paragraphs. And for some reason, I really, really, would like to have that same kind of easy-going pace in my own life.

I'm not as busy as some parents. My daughter has not taken an interest in sports. She did say she might like to take dance, so I'm taking that into consideration. At this point, I'm not running all over the place taking her from one practice to the next. But those days are coming. In the meantime, I'm trying to make the best use of my time.

But the full-time job really makes it difficult to carve out enough hours in the day to do what you want. There's essentially six hours from the end of the work day until bedtime and there's a lot to be crammed into those six hours. Working out, picking up my daughter from daycare, fixing supper, tidying the house, reading a book, spending some quality time with her, writing...how do we fit it all in?

I've pretty much cut television from my schedule. On the weekends, I'll indulge in a movie or two, but more than that and I feel guilty. Tonight I did watch History Detectives, but it was while I was folding laundry. I couldn't justify sitting on the couch and just mindlessly watching it - I had to be working.

This is a far cry from where I used to be. I remember when we had cable and I didn't have a full-time job - I'd watch t.v. for hours at a time. Just think of all that time wasted! I didn't even like the majority of the stuff I watched - I watched it because it was there and I wasn't motivated enough to do anything else.

I think as Americans, it's been drummed into our heads that we have to work, work, WORK. But it's a double-edged sword. Yes, we are one of the most progressive nations on earth. But look at how we rush around. We go from school to practice to supper to Boy Scouts to home and to bed - or any variation thereof. Our vacations are limited to two weeks a year - a situation which most Europeans find incredulous.

I long for an easy-going pace in my life. But how to achieve it, short of winning the lottery? And to be honest, I can only sit around and relax for so long before I really start to get antsy and feel the need to do something.

Maybe I'm just really weird. I don't get involved with television shows like I used to and I couldn't even begin to tell you who got kicked off Survivor or what the newest sitcom is. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. But funny - I really don't miss it at all.

Do you long for a slower pace in your life? If so, how would you go about achieving it?