Days of Freedom

I took a vacation day from work today to extend my Thanksgiving weekend by one day. As I often do when I have a free weekday--I absolutely LOVE having weekdays off, by the by--I came down to the South Side to sit at my favorite cafe. The intent is to try and get some writing done. I pretty miserably failed NaNoWriMo this year. There's nothing new about that. But it got me started on a new project about which I've been thinking for some time and it seems a good time to get started. I had originally intended to go hunting, but my gut told me not to go today, to just spend the day enjoying life for a change with no ulterior motives. I need to do that more often. I really believe that's why we're here, to enjoy this world we've been given and this gift called life, and I think we've done everything we can as a society to ensure that people don't get to do that. Most of us spend the majority of our lives doing something relating to work, and most of us don't like our jobs. That seems somehow...off...to me.

Consider: You get 6-8 hours a sleep a night (or at least, you should). But most people spend between 30 minutes and 2 hours commuting to work, each way, then spend 8 hours sitting at their desk or cubicle or whatever. That's 9 to 14 hours out of every 24 spent at or en route to or from a job that does not fulfill or satisfy us in any way. Add 7 hours for sleep into the mix. We're now up to 16 to 21 of 24 hours every day. This leaves three to eight hours every day for ourselves, and how much of that time do you just spend recuperating from work?

Kinda nuts, ain't it? And I'm not talking about those rare folk who get to do what they love for a living. You all are the lucky ones and you should be thankful every day for what you get to do.

Anyway, that's why I love having weekdays off, where I can just relax and enjoy being alive. I can decide when I wake up in the morning what I want to do for the day (and it often involves sitting in a cafe with my laptop, writing or reading). Today's extra-good because it's a very pretty day. A bit brisk, in the mid-40's, but the sun is out and the sky is blue. Sure, I'm sitting in a dark coffeehouse, but there are big windows out of which I can see. I try not to dwell on the nagging dread of having to go back to work tomorrow and just enjoy what I've got going on right now, in the moment. It doesn't always work, but if I can get 60% of my day for relaxation, then that's just fine.

The point is, weekdays off--especially nice weekdays--are awesome. I dream of the day when I really get to enjoy my life. It will come some day, of that I am certain. It's just a matter of when, and I have to keep plugging away at my goals until I get there.

It's looking like I'll be pulling B and B+ this semester in classes, which is down from my usual A and A-, but my instructors are exceedingly tough graders this semester. I'm not pleased to be losing my straight-A streak, but on the up side, my A AVERAGE will still be intact and B is nothing to sneeze at. Gotta keep things in perspective; there are a lot of people out there who are proud to pull out B's in grad school, and I can try for my A's again next semester. I've pretty much decided that as soon as I finish my degree I want out of my current job. If I can't get work in a library somewhere, I may look into management positions at book stores. Anything to be done with being an administrative assistant. Who knows? Maybe I'll get a million dollar deal for Charlie Morning and Mr. Night.

...and monkeys might fly out of my butt, too.

Speaking of Morning/Night, I'm planning to start revisions on it in about a week or so. I've removed myself from it for a few weeks to allow others to read. Reactions have been universally enthusiastic and positive, which is nice...but it means I'm left to my own devices to find and correct the weaknesses. Only thing to do is dive in and get to work. Get it tightened up and ready to go, then shop it around. If by some miracle I find an interested agent and/or publisher I'm sure they will be able to point out where it needs work.

Okay, on that note it's time for me to bust open Apotheosis and get to work. Got Winamp up and running with 300 songs by Lita Ford, the Runaways, Alanis, Sarah McLachlan, The Meridians, Nightwish, Inkubus Sukkubus, Voltaire, Evanescence, and Lacuna Coil. Let the word-flow begin.