Looking for Happiness In Tedium
Time. I think about it constantly, and not in the there’s-not-enough-time-in-the-day way, but in the life-is-short-enjoy-it-as-much-as-you-can way. I feel a dissonance between the two ways of thinking.
On the one hand, because life is short, it’s important to do what you love, to be with your favorite people as much as possible, to enjoy good food, notice the beautiful details around you….
On the other hand, being organized and efficient is important to get all your work done everyday. Every Sunday, I scramble to make sure the family is prepared for the coming week. Each week night, I try to get as much writing work done as possible.
Sometimes it feels like life is one long list of chores to be completed.
How do you feel the joy of each day when each day is composed of a list of tedious tasks to get through? How do you stop feeling that doing laundry, working at the office, washing dishes and running errands are not life-sucking activities that detract from your general happiness? How is it possible to “enjoy the journey” instead of just anticipating the destination?
All of that sounds so negative and depressing I am tempted to delete it.
It’s not really so terrible, though. For me, having a plan helps alleviate some of the dissonance. Figuring out what is most important gave me a beginning point, and then having the epiphany That Is Not So Outlandish Or Impossible has helped, too.
I want to work at home so that there is time to have a garden, to exercise, to cook most of my own food and spend more time with my family. Having a 9-5 job has advantages, but also eats up far more than 40 hours a week. There is the hour to hour and a half of commute time daily, the time that must be spent making sure there are clean, presentable clothes ready to wear, even the time spent preparing lunches that can be carried to work.
Living near water is something I recently realized is important. I’ve always daydreamed about a little house near a river or creek, but only within the last couple of months did it occur to me there is no reason that can’t happen. My children are almost grown and will be living elsewhere within a few short years so we will need much less space.Why not save and look for a quiet place on some water?
Working toward making Smiling Tree Writing my main source of income makes for a TON of extra work. It also gets me a step closer to working at home and being able to choose where that home is without having to worry about how far the drive to work will be. The problem I have is, how do I relax and enjoy the process of building the business while working extra long hours and missing out on some of the fun stuff?
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