I struggle to make time for the things I truly enjoy. Aside from travelling overseas to San Diego for Comic Con, I often find myself making excuses for avoiding activities that I used to really enjoy. Two activities that fall into this category are:

| Reading

| Art

These are two things that I used to pursue on a daily basis. I would gobble up literature and go through reams of paper drawing and doodling. Now, unless I force myself to sit down and read or draw, I don’t do anywhere near the amount I used to.

I am making steps to change that but I still find myself making excuses. And the biggest one is school. You see, I read a lot but what I read falls into either students essays or the latest article on how to revolutionise my teaching practise. I spend at least three hours a day reading from either of those categories. (Often more) So that is my excuse for not finishing the several books I’m part way through.

Like Lovecraft Country which I started an age ago and have only just come back to.

And, as for the art part, well I run an elective once a week which is creating comics but, lo and behold, I don’t sit down and do the art myself. I should but I often find myself wandering around building confidence and making terrible puns. (They really are terrible but I’m not going to change anytime soon.)

Admittedly, I’m not as confident with my art but I do enjoy it. And I have been making pun focused hand drawn cards for the local craft market. But I don’t set aside time during the weeks to do this on a regular basis.

I should probably add writing to this list. I’ve been planning a novel for two years and have barely written ten pages. Still I can crank out 50 000 words for NaNoWriMo every November. Sometimes I feel I’m all talk and no action.

So I need to refocus some of my energy into fully creating a persona outside of TeacherMe and redefine who I am outside of that label?

A good friend gave me a Drawing Journal from Typo. I haven’t drawn anything in it because I’m scared…though scared isn’t really the right word. I just don’t want to sully it?

But, I learned a lot in the last month and, like any person, I know that I’ll learn a lot more in the coming months.

So mini goals are:

| Finish some of the books I’ve started and put down.

| Draw at least once a week.

| Write a little every day. (Or aim for a page of writing each week…it’s baby steps.)

What are some things that you don’t always put time aside for?

xJaime

P.S. I actually post regularly over at This Nerd Life. I post every Monday. (So maybe I am writing more than I thought.)