Comments on: Freeing my free time

By: Cindy

Cindy — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:30:13 +0000

Cindy H (not to be confused with me or Cindy HL) — you said it well. I think one of the joys of working from home, and being a writer, is having all that time for “creative moodling,” as author Brenda Ueland explains in IF YOU WANT TO WRITE. If our heads are floating in cyberspace all the time, we’re missing the real life around us.

Along these lines, I found after several years of writing weekly newspaper columns that I began to view my daily life as newspaper column fodder — everything that happened was a “potential story.” That started creeping ME out… I think there’s a similar danger in getting obsessed about one’s blog. — Cindy La Ferle

By: cindy

cindy — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:16:37 +0000

cindy, a similar thing happened to me and the scary part was taht it started to feel like i didn’t know my own home anymore. i hardly puttered. i used the kitchen to cook, the living room to watch the news, but otherwise i was sequestered in front of the computer. i wasn’t available for the project that grows out of a few empty moments. i didn’t tidy anymore. i resented doing laundry…i have pulled back as well and am rediscovering the joy of just being in my home.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:47:41 +0000

Cindy, I read your timely post on the 6th, but I didn’t have time to comment until today. I think many of us are feeling the time crunch. Please continue to post when you feel able. I always look forward to reading your essays.

By: Cindy H

Cindy H — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 03:50:57 +0000

Cindy, I know how you feel. I’ve started doing other things first thing in the morning now besides reading the news, e-mail and blogs. I’m trying to reserve my computer time for moments in the day.

I think that in this political season we’ve just weathered, the computer has served as an important information tool — but now I feel I can ease up a bit on my computer time, too.

By: debra darvick

debra darvick — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:53:21 +0000

Bravo, Cindy! My son just sent me his website. It was really links to Racebook and Linked in and Twitter. Oy! I admire your fortitude and have noticed, like you that the computer is a huge time gobbler. You’re inspiring me. I don’t know that I could do 45 minutes but might entertain an hour limit.
One of my mom’s most frequent maxims was also, “Anything in moderation.”!

Happy walking, making art, reading.

By: Pam

Pam — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:52:45 +0000

Good advice for someone who is just beginning to get sucked into the void (and enjoying it, I must admit!). Set limits. Come up for air. Appreciate the sacred in the ordinary.
Thanks!

By: Laura

Laura — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 01:18:09 +0000

The cycle of life? Can we really eat brownies everyday for breakfast? I restrict myself to blogvisiting a few times a week and try to focus on my writing the other days. There’s just so much we can give of ourselves without needing to get replenished.

By: Elaine

Elaine — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 15:34:42 +0000

When I miss your posts or your comments, I will think of you tackling a fun, off-line project and I will smile …

Enjoy your new “found” time.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 14:59:44 +0000

Thanks for your comments, everyone — it’s good to know we’re not alone. I want to add that I will still post essays or short blogs at least twice a week, maybe more. What I do plan to cut back on most of all is “aimless surfing” (including online shopping and browsing) or otherwise allowing the Internet to eat up time that I could be spending on other things or with family and friends. By limiting my time on the computer every morning, it’s amazing how much time has opened up for other things that I thought I didn’t have time (or energy) for…

By: Kassi T

Kassi T — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 04:14:45 +0000

All True! I have traded my TV time for surfing.