If I added up all the time I’ve wasted on the internet, video games, and crossword puzzles in my life, I would have had enough time to learn another language or several, play piano, and write a few novels.
mandarcat's Life List
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1. stop wasting time online
2 entries . 8 cheers13 people -
2. drink 8 glasses of water a day
1 entry . 9 cheers1,266 people -
3. take better care of my teeth
1 entry . 13 cheers595 people -
4. have a daily routine
1 entry . 9 cheers168 people -
5. take all my vitamins and medicines without missing doses
1 cheer1 person -
6. organize my clothes
1 entry . 3 cheers59 people -
7. organize my apartment and get furniture
2 entries . 2 cheers1 person -
8. finish all the ADHD books and workbooks I currently own
1 entry . 1 cheer1 person -
9. get new wardrobe
4 cheers8 people -
10. eat healthy
8 cheers3,027 people -
11. practice guitar every day
3 cheers52 people -
12. Complete "The Artist's Way"
4 entries . 2 cheers391 people -
13. write every day
1 entry . 12 cheers875 people -
14. write a letter once a week
1 cheer7 people -
15. take an aerial silk class
3 people -
16. continue to sing, and sing better
4 cheers55 people -
17. improve self confidence
7 cheers7 people -
18. lose 15 pounds
2 entries . 4 cheers3,171 people -
19. start dancing again
12 cheers172 people -
20. excercise every day
10 cheers123 people -
21. get involved in sport or hobby that involves exercise
2 cheers1 person -
22. re-string guitars
1 cheer1 person -
23. have better manners
3 cheers19 people -
24. become a better speaker
1 entry . 5 cheers29 people -
25. cultivate more outside interests
3 cheers1 person -
26. improve skin
3 cheers7 people -
27. get in the best shape of my life
2010 resolution . 2 entries . 11 cheers387 people -
28. be more friendly
3 cheers235 people -
29. take a vacation
4 cheers472 people -
30. make friends
2 cheers1,748 people -
31. Take more photos
5 cheers3,481 people -
32. record my music and make people listen to it
5 cheers1 person -
33. get a tan
1 cheer1,360 people -
34. write letter to my father
1 entry . 12 cheers2 people -
35. revise paper for publication
3 cheers1 person -
36. apply for clerkships and fellowship
1 entry . 1 cheer1 person -
37. perform at an open mic night
1 entry . 5 cheers52 people -
38. have a circle of friends
2 cheers4 people -
39. Do NaNoWriMo
1 entry . 2 cheers607 people -
40. Pass the C2 level of the DALF
3 entries . 3 cheers2 people -
41. Complete the Berklee Modern Method for Guitar Books 1-3
1 entry . 1 cheer1 person -
42. write a novel and get it published
3 cheers329 people -
43. get jaw surgery
1 entry11 people
How I did it: I have problems taking vitamins (and medications too) on two fronts: 1) I have problems remembering; and 2) I have a delicate stomach and often get nervous about timing --so I would often put off taking my vitamins because I'd be nervous about my stomach, and then I'd forget altogether. I'm currently taking 14 vitamins. I know it sounds like a lot, but they're all for different ailments, and a few of the vitamins require multiple pills… Read how I did it…
How I did it: This task wasn't actually that hard to complete in hindsight, but I don't think I'd made a serious attempt to organize my papers for years!To accomplish this goal, I gathered all my papers and sorted them into piles by topic, and threw out everything I thought I don't need to keep anymore. Then I purchased a plastic storage bin with little grooves on the side for hanging folders. I placed the papers into labelled hanging folders, and ar… Read how I did it…
I started the morning pages, a few days ago, but I just got a chance to finish reading the book’s instructions and the first chapter last night. The first chapter talks about giving yourself permission to be an artist and facing up to old monsters that caused you to block and suppress yourself.
At first I thought this seemed like a silly topic—I mean, I didn’t have parents that yelled at me and told me to be a lawyer instead of a writer or anything, and I thought ‘I’m not terrified—probably just lazy!’
But as I read the chapter, all of these instances from my past started bubbling up. I realized that I went from, at one point while a teenager, spending all the time I could on creative pursuits and being a prolific writer, especially with poems, to my present/recent past, where I don’t do any writing.
Up until now, for a long time, artistic pursuits have been like some faint ache in my bones or some vestigial remainder—I knew that I wanted to be writing and creating art somewhere, at some point, but I was paralyzed and felt like there was no point—I never had any inspiring ideas or astonishing technical skills, so I was inhibited from ever starting anything. I now see that I wasn’t having inspiring ideas because life events had dried and collapsed my inner well and I haven’t yet developed astonishing skills because I haven’t put in the time to develop them.
While I was reading the chapter and while I was doing my morning pages today, all of my old ‘monsters’ and discouragers popped up. It seems very obvious in hindsight. Every time something didn’t work out or someone was unkind, something inside me shut down, restricting my artistic activities, until ultimately I scrapped my plans to go to grad school for writing. In hindsight, it also seems silly that I allowed this happen. I also received a great deal of encouragement and was told that I was good often.
But I did allow it to happen. And instead of working hard with the energy and ambition I once had to develop technical skills and a body of work, I’ve hidden from myself and barely even admitted to myself that I wanted to be a writer and an artist. I was embarrassed! Which is ridiculous! I guess I was terrified of being bad, but how can I be a good artist -or even a bad artist- if I don’t do anything?
What was I thinking? Did I think that everyone else just woke up one day with fully formed plots for novels, or with the perfect ability to play an instrument without even practicing? Man was I hopeless.
The past several years have been filled with particularly stressful events, and I have a job that it is very demanding hours-wise—but still, I could fit it in an hour to write or play music most days, I could spend less time online reading the news compulsively, I could take a week off once or twice a year and work on projects—but I haven’t, and I see now that I was irrationally inhibited.
I’m going to make an effort to push myself to work on writing and art every day, and when I catch myself wasting time instead, I’ll remind myself that I’m just running away, which is silly.
I don’t really watch full programs on tv, but I do often turn it on to keep me company while I’m on at home and wind up watching bits here and there. I’m going to commit to keeping TV5 as my background channel unless there is a show that I really want to watch. Hopefully this spurs me to watch more French programming and I’ll pick up more just having it around.
