What Kind of Excuse is “Too Busy”? or If Only Thoughts Transmitted…
Thursday, May 13th, 2010I am disappointed. After committing to posting a blog entry every week, and faithfully keeping that commitment for more than a year, I dropped the ball. Not just once and not with a good reason—“good” meaning the Internet crashed or I did. What’s my excuse: I’ve been too busy…
How busy have I been? I’ve been so busy Kelly’s Fishbowl was booted from my list of “most visited” internet sites. That’s disgusting. How can I expect anyone else to remain faithful to my blog if I can’t even do it myself?
Those unblogged postings belong on a list along with letters I never wrote, calls I didn’t make, stories I never finished, revisions I didn’t make, friends I didn’t keep up with…. It’s not that I haven’t thought about doing these things. Oh the things I have thunk! If only the head letters I’ve written and head chats I’ve held could be transmitted… Unfortunately (or fortunately) these mind writings and chats usually take place while I’m driving or waiting somewhere away from my computer, however never far from a pen and paper, as I always keep those in my purse. But, I get carsick if I write in a car, the economy section on a plane is so tight that I’ll gut-elbow the passenger next to me if I try to write on the plane or pull out my computer. Yes, I could have opted for the smaller size laptop. Yes, I have tried talking into a tape recorder while driving. No clue how those road stories and letters turned out as I have never transcribed them—I can’t stand listening to my own voice. The excuses go on….
You know the adage “if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it?” I’m one of those busy people. Aren’t we all? Busy as I am, I seem to be getting done only “what’s expected” i.e.: the things others (except my husband) ask me to do, and things others tell me are important. Isn’t that how it is with so many things? We stay really busy doing what we should, so busy in fact that we are often too busy to do what we want. Never mind what we promise ourselves (or our husbands) we will do.
Take writing, for instance. During the two years I worked toward a Masters Degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts, I committed to 25 hours a week of work on the program. During those hours, and more, I read copious books and maintained a summarized biography, wrote at least 20 pages of new work and 20 pages of revised work, along with an essay (or the equivalent) every month. Many things got in the way of my completing my monthly packets, but somehow, someway, I found the time to do the work. Illness, travel, family issues, surgery, moving…baaahhhhhh, I was never too busy. Upon graduation, I said to myself: “Self, you’re used to this schedule. You like it. You’re happy when you are writing, reading, creating…so stick with it.” But did I?
These missing blog entries are a prime example. I love writing the blog. When events in my Jakarta life stir me, I can’t wait to blog it. Blogging allows me to consider issues and vent.
Protesting Arizona's new anti-immigrant law, May 2, 2010
(Boy howdy, if you could have read the blog I thought while watching the anti, anti-immigration law protest in New York last week…)
But you can’t, because I only thought it. To paraphrase my friend Beverly: “spit in one hand, think in another, rub them together and what have you got?”
Until they do connect thought transmitters directly to my brain, as depicted by M.T. Anderson in his book Feed, I need to get really busy pleasing me. So, I’m renewing my vow: I here by commit to unbusying myself enough to do more than only think it; I’m going to write it.
