Friday, October 5, 2012

So much for leisure time...


When exactly did our lives get so hectic? I mean, weren't computers supposed to make our lives easier?  We have more technology than ever before in history, but less and less time to enjoy it.

I grew up WITHOUT a computer or a cell phone, heck, even without a microwave!!  (How the crap did we warm things up??)  I don't remember feeling overwhelmed all the time like I do now. True, I didn't have the responsibility of raising a family or making ends meet, but that's not even the kind of "overwhelmed" I'm talking about.  There are simply too many things to do these days.  

We have access to SO much information anymore, but we don't take the time to enjoy that access.  When I was around 23, I lost my grandfather, and at 28, my grandmother (who raised me by the way, so it was like losing my parents.)  In going thru their papers, I came across some genealogy information that my great-uncle   had compiled over around 20 years.  It was around 13 pages of information going back to 1894.  He got all that information by writing letters and calling people and actually going to courthouses to get information.  And he did a wonderful job.  Well, this got me interested in it too.  A few years later I discovered the magical internet.  And talk about available information!  In no time I had expanded greatly on that little bit of information I had, all from the comfort of my living room. (The 13 page report is now nearly 200.)  I really enjoyed all the digging too.  I still would, IF I HAD TIME.  

Oh occasionally I'll get an email or come across an obit that has info I need, and I'll dive back into it for a few days, but for the most part I don't even mess with it anymore.  Between Facebook and Pinterest and blogging, and scrapbooking, Farmville, and band contests and football games with Munchkin, I can't keep everything straight.  I'm a listmaker from WAY back, but even my lists are disorganized right now.Oh, and did I mention I have a 40 hour a week job too?  

I LOVE to read (Stephen King especially). I used to be in the middle of a book at all times.  Not so much anymore.  I have a book on my Kindle right now that I'm loving, I just can't find time to sit down and read it as much as I'd like.  And reading is something that used to really relax me and take me away from the pressures of daily life.  

I hate to say it, because I'm a bit of a computer geek, and I love all the things they can do.  But weren't our lives easier, or maybe just simpler, before they came along?  I think there's so much to do, we can't possibly do it all.  

So.  Maybe it's time to sit down (and make a list!) and decide just WHICH activities are the most important to me.  I know that number one will be anything to do with Munchkin, considering she’s the most important thing in my life.  I guess if I gauge everything else off that, I can’t go wrong, huh.

Here’s hoping you have a great Friday, and a great weekend, too.  (And if you don’t hear from me until Monday, I promise, I’ll be back {just TRY to read that without hearing Arnold Schwarzenegger in your head.})

 Melissa

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