Unplugged

My work life often involves the use of a computer. If I am not checking emails or writing reports, I am using scoring apps or reading up on the latest research on specific learning disabilities. I also spend a great deal of time on my phone, texting, emailing, talking, and using various apps that are pertinent to work.  I get summers off, for the most part. I will take on some contract work, for a little extra cash, but other than that, I am off the clock. I stay up as late as I want, and sleep in. I stay in my pajamas all day, and curl up with my Kindle. I stop answering the phone, letting voice mail screen my calls.

And occasionally I skip blogging.

When I first began blogging, I had to blog every single day to get into the habit. Had to. No. Matter. What. No matter the time, no matter how exhausted I was, no matter what else I had going on, I was at my computer. It didn't even matter that nobody was reading! I called myself dedicated. My husband called me obsessive.

A funny thing happens when you try to force writing; your quality goes down.  You can't push the creative process, no matter what all those books and online sites say.  When you are focused on filing a page, there's not much time to savor the words you have written. It becomes stressful. I decided that I needed to get over that. Easier said than done. I still felt obligated to write every day. I still felt the "have to".  Then I felt guilty about not writing, and angry about the guilt. I began resenting my blog. As tired as I was, I would find myself arguing with the computer screen. When a person starts arguing with their computer screen at midnight, it is time to put the mouse down.

So now I focus more on quality, less on arbitrary indicators of quantity. I don't worry about internet access. If I get an idea, I will write it down in a notebook and let the ideas flood my synapses, without pressure.  I can always come back to it later. I won't sit in front of a computer screen, staring at the blinking cursor.  If nothing is happening, I won't beat myself up about it.  I step away, and go find some thing else to do. Like spend time with my family, even if we're only stretched out on the bed pretending to take naps so we can snap a "selfie" or two.  Zane says that we're a "happily family", and since he's my muse most days, I'm following his cue.

Sometimes the ideas flow best when you're out living instead of waiting to live.


3.) Do you “unplug” during the summer months? Why or why not?

Random Unplugged

Last week, I turned off the computer.  I didn't go completely off the grid, as I kept my cell phone and kindle handy.  But for several days, I did not touch a computer.  I'd like to say that it was liberating, that I got so much work finished, and that I solved all the world's problems.  Not so much.  As it turns out, when you give up one activity, such as computer time, other activities just seem to pop right up to fill in those free spots.  It's as if those activities have been lurking for years, just waiting for their chance!  All that free time I thought I would have, time to get to bed early, time to walk the dog, time to just hang out--well, that just never happened.  So much for that experiment!

I've been keeping tabs on Paula Deen's situation.  People are being way too hard on her.  What she said was wrong, and that is fact.  However, other people have said worse over the years, people with more to lose, and they haven't been as villified as she has been.  Deen has apologized for her actions, and this has mattered to not a soul.  She has come out and said that she was raised in a different time and place, but that doesn't seem to matter in the court of public opinion. It should. Upbringing does play a role in future behavior.   There are still parts of the South that refuse to accept the concept of equality for all, who still consider some races to be inferior, and who are mentally still fighting the Civil War.  If you were brought up in that environment, if that's all you heard during your childhood, how hard would it be to change that mindset as an adult?  Perhaps those who are hardest on her are projecting their own issues about race onto Deen.  If we point our fingers at her and yell a lot, maybe no one will notice our own foibles and mistakes?

I did get out there to see the Supermoon--that's my thumb in the shot!

This past weekend was Zane's first soccer tournament.  We had to be there early in the morning, so we all got up and packed the car and took off down the road.  I've said before that San Antonio is a large city--seventh in the nation--but more so because this city sprawls.  That's really the only way to consider it, especially when we are driving.  The tournament was on the other side of the city, and we were in the car forever.  Then we got lost, and drove around three or four times trying to figure out where we were supposed to turn.  Zane even asked if we were still in Texas!  Once we got there, parked, unloaded the car, and dragged all our stuff to the field we were supposed to be playing on, things went much more smoothly.  Zane's team tied one, won one, and lost one, and then we were done.  That third game was played at 12:45pm, when the sun is right overhead, and the boys were just plain exhausted.  We waited to find out our standing, and we came in second!  Overall it was a positive experience for Zane, and worth the sunburn I ended up getting(using 100SPF, I might add!). 

Another woman in the news was Nigella Lawson, who was being choked by her husband in a public place.  I've seen the pictures, and Ms. Lawson looks terrified.  Her husband has tried to say that he had been joking, that they weren't fighting, etc.  A person doesn't look that terrified for a joke!  Obviously something like that has happened before, and she was afraid.  It's probably a good thing that someone took that picture.  Sure, they could have tried to intervene at that moment, but the photographs can't be shoved out of the way and told to mind their own business.  There really is no positive way to spin that, and nobody should try.  I understand that men don't always understand that their behavior or body language is threatening,  but grabbing someone by the throat?   Can't be interpreted in any other way.  It's past time that we started bringing these kinds of situations into the light, and it's time for a world-wide conversation on domestic violence.  A woman should be safe in her own home, surrounded by love and trust.

Just so you don't leave depressed, here is my new editor, who has been looking at my typing:

Maisy is getting BIG--50lbs, and she is not even a year old yet!  She still likes to nap on the back of the chair I usually sit in, at least until I start reading or trying to type.  Then she has to critique my work!



Now, go visit the Stacy--she's great!