My Thoughts

I've been thinking about time lately. It seems now that time goes by faster and faster as I get older (I think many people would say the same). Then tonight while coming in and out of consciousness while napping, I realized something. Most members of my family who have passed naturally have made it into their 80s. I'm currently 38. That means that I could be nearing the half-point of my life soon. That also means that I could start my entire life over and live, again, as much as I've already done (and I think I've accomplished quite a bit). Of course, none of us are sure of our time here, but that feeling is freeing in a way. Want to learn a new language? I've got time. Want to go to school again? I've got time. Want to start another business? I've got time. Want to change my path entirely? I've got time. This year was very hard on me. I lost my gram who was a huge supporter and confidant in my life. No matter what path I took in life, she was proud ...

Well, it's now day four of my "internet detox"! How is it going? Well, it's been more and more difficult as time goes on. While I have been on the internet less for personal things (one of the main points of this experiment), I've allowed time for work things. And, while that is good in that I'm really getting a lot organized, I'm also finding myself doing more and more there instead of taking time for myself off the internet (the real point of the experiment). I have been reading offline more, though, and that's been nice. I've cut my television intake down by a lot, and have stuck to the 1 hour a day limit (we watched a movie last night, but I've cut down to no television on some days, so it averages out well). I've gotten my alarm clock for the bedroom and have removed my phone so that I'm less tempted to look at it while I'm waking or in the middle of the night. That has helped quite a bit to fall asleep better and wake up w...

So, how did the first day go? Well, it actually wasn't so bad. I did spend more time on social media than I had planned, but only for work purposes, so I'm not beating myself up over it. Instead of the planned 30 minutes, I would estimate that it was closer to one hour. Part of the reason for this, however, is that because I wasn't scrolling through my feeds for my personal life, I had more time to organize my brain to get through some things I needed to for awhile for Allegory Gallery. So, all in all, that's a plus, I'd say. And television? Well, I actually watched none. Andrew and I sat down to have dinner, but we opted not to turn on the television at all. We talked a bit, caught up with each other some, discussed some news, and then I came to my office to work and he went into his studio to do the same. I think the no television idea will be more difficult as the days go on, but we'll see! All through college and most of the time in NYC, I had no tv, so ...

So, I've been tossing something around in my brain for a few days, and I've come to the conclusion that I need to take a social media/internet break.  I'm far too addicted, and while watching YouTube one night, I came across this video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve37Bg4-hPc . In the video, the woman talks about how she's so caught up in social media timelines and television that she realized she doesn't really have any hobbies or self-interests anymore. And, that really  struck a chord with me. Most of my time online is spent either doing business work (which I will, of course, continue) or mindless scrolling through timelines liking and sharing things that, perhaps, aren't always as important as the time they take away from me is.  So, I've been trying to think how best to do this. And, I've come down to a few rules: 1) I will allow myself 1 hour of television per day only (and it still counts if it's just in the background as I...