Down Time? What Is It?

Down time. At some point, everybody needs down time to take a break from what they do. It recharges our batteries, rejuvenates our thought processes and generally promotes over all well being. Most people will do something entirely different from their life's work, like take a trip, work in a garden, read a book or just veg in front of the television.

So what makes writers so different? We spend a great deal of time writing, then look to do something else for a short time so the brain can take a much needed break. What do we do? For the most part we get involved in something else creative. Granted, it isn't writing but it's still creative.

Have you ever looked at an author's bio? Or if you've created one for yourself have you looked--really looked--at the information you've written? Have you noticed how similar your information is to that of other authors? It's uncanny.  Or is it? It just varies on the way we approach it.

When I'm not writing, I'm doing something in craft work. Right now I'm working on some shawl/lap afghans for some friends of mine, trying to come up with a simple, light weight pattern. After a few tries I finally hit on something that works. Then there's the "crib-size" quilt (covers the top of a twin bed) I've been quilting. I have to get it finished before I can get started on the full size one I want to make for my son and his future wife. Then there are the two afghans that are still in pieces and have to be sewn together for an auction in late April. Before these projects are finished, I'll have a list of new ones I'll be itching to get to. Then late at night I might spend an hour or so reading and even then the writer section is still working.

It seems like the creative side of our brains never truly gets any rest. Even in sleep we dream of plots and characters. What if our creative brain is divided into compartments? Each one has a little man who is assigned a specific task. When one or two are working, the rest of them might get break time...or more likely they're taking notes.  Have you ever noticed how you can be doing one thing and the writer compartment will always find a way to intrude? Well, maybe intrusion is a little harsh but let's face it. That part of us doesn't have the simplest understanding of what it means to take a break.

Then again, if we were able to shut down, even temporarily, consider all the great, weird, complex, crazy, ideas that might never be thought of or the plots that might never be created. Down time? We might need it but our actions and interests for the most part say we're not particularly concerned. Down time is mainly for those who have yet to get a handle on multi-tasking (another creative sport) but sooner or later the majority of us manage to live with only a hint of it.

Have you had your down time today?

Resolutions vs Goals

Every year between Christmas and New Year's, (usually not till New Year's Eve for us procrastinators) most folks are thinking about the resolutions they plan to make. There are the typical... to lose weight, find a job, or a better one if you're fortunate to still be working. I used to make about the same ones every year and hope that the new year would see me keeping those resolutions. It never fails...the resolutions fall by the wayside before two months of the new year are gone. There's just something about making resolutions to yourself that don't always work out.

My Oxford Word Finder defines resolution as "a thing resolved on; an intention".  In place of resolution we could use words such as: commitment, pledge, promise, word of honor, oath, vow, undertaking, obligation, intention.  Every one of them evokes determination to achieve some kind of result. Give me a few weeks and I'll have forgotten what the resolutions were, never mind my failure to keep them. The next step is guilt setting in. You know what they say about good intentions...

So I got to thinking there had to be a better way. I thought about setting goals. After all, we don't set resolutions as writers...we set goals. Is there a difference? I believe there is.  Going back to my trusty Word Finder, a goal is described as: "the object of a person's ambition or effort; a destination; an aim. Other words we could use might be: object, aim, purpose, end, objective, target, ambition, ideal, aspiration.

Comparing the two, I find I like setting goals better. Resolutions sound like gavel-pounding promises that will come back to bite you if you fail to keep them. There's just something about goals that doesn't seem so harsh, or hard to keep. If you fail them, it's more like "I'll have to try harder next time," and there's no real 'guilt' attached.

Last year was the first time I tried goal setting, and although I only set one I was pleased to have achieved it. This year I'm doing it again and set a couple more. I expect one goal will be much easier to reach than the second but they're still goals.

In conclusion...I resolve, to the best of my ability, to achieve the goals I have set.