I've been very scattered which is a normal state of affairs for me. In part, I have had a lot on my plate. This state of affairs will continue for the next couple of months. However, I am beginning to think that this scattered feeling is not situational dependent but is the way I approach life. I am one of those people who has a number of things started and not finished. I don't think this is ADD; I think this is the importanceI attach to these projects and the interest they hold for me. What needs to get done usually gets done.
I went in search of and found a book entitled "If You Want to WRite". I think the author is Owens, perhaps Brenda Owens who was born in the late 1800s and lived to be 93. She had two principles by which she lived: always tell the truth and only do what interests you. The second principle is what interests me today. Only doing what interests you flies in the face of everything I was taught about responsibility and being a good employee. Do what is asigned. Do what others think is important. But I am coming around to the belief and guiding principle that I am only good at what interests me. I do indeed do what I am good at, but I am also prepared to learn new things and surely I am not good at them, at least when I begin working on them.
I don't know how to move to a new city where I know no one. This isn't stopping me from going there and finding out how to do it.
I've never hired a moving company before. I've never contacted service agencies before cold. Well, now is a good time to start. I haven't searched for a church before not being particularly concerned with their label but concerned about their location and the kind of people that go there. Can they be a community which enriches my spiritual life and which supports me in enabling the spiritual lives of others? Do they do ministry rather than consume it? Are they evangelists? If so, what word are they spreading about Jesus and the life someone can have in Christ?
I read an article about marketing in web 2.0. It's not about just creating links. It's about community involvement online. It's a big commitment. It's something I can do if I find the right places. This article listed 15. That's a lot of communities to get involved in. I don't think I can carry that many but can I do 5 or more? What about me and my work am I promoting?
And what about my writing and reading aloud?
Lots to do. ALots to think about. Lots to be interested in.
Wasting Time
I'm really good at wasting time. I can find an internet site that has to be visited, a feed that needs to be checked for updates, a Craigslist that needs to be viewed. There's always email, the weather, another cup of coffee or, yes, going back to the beginning of this list and looking to see which books have been added to the library site. Spyware removal, podcast listening--it all takes time and what have I accomplished? I've wasted time and then I say, Oh, I was busy. I didn't have time to ----
This is true of the podcasting and it is true of my writing. I need to stop wasting time and get on with doing. The way to get rid of a bad habit is substitute a good one.
So I didn't check the feeds or the email. I sat down to write a post since I'm a blogger, after all, and I haven't been blogging. Now that I feel good about myself, I can have another cup of coffee and -- oh yes, listen to that file I need to prepare for podcasting.
