" So Little Time"

As I come closer to the final phase of earning my bachelor’s degree in English & Creative Writing, contemplate graduate school, and moving into the next steps in my career I find that in my down time hobbies are on my mind a lot. Much of this mental preoccupation revolves around the fact that I have many beloved hobbies in which I have little to no time to engage. A good example of a personal hobby I haven’t engaged with lately is videogames. It pains me to write this, I’ve been a devotee of videogames since the first time I pick up a Gameboy color, but the Nintendo Switch I received as a birthday present a few years ago continues to gather dust in my bookcase. The more immediate cause for this is the fact that I’m still saddened by the loss of Game Informer Magazine which was once America’s number one gaming publications and part of a dying breed that once included other famous titles like Nintendo Power. It seems as though it was yesterday when I received my final issue, though as I write this I’ve suddenly realized, that was nearly a year ago.  But regardless, I think that for me the loss of Game Informer represents a loss of community, and a connection to fellow videogame enthusiasts leaving me temporarily bereft of interest in my favorite non-crafting hobby. Of course, the more general and persistent cause of my lack of hobby time is that my days seem primarily taken up with completing school assignments. All of this speculation leaves me with two questions, one silly and one serious. The rather silly one is, if the only game you can find time to play is Royal Match can you still call yourself a gamer?  The second more serious question is how we balance the desire for success and the desire for enjoyment.  I’m sure that many of my fellow writers, especially those who are pursuing a degree have felt similar emotions.  Striking the balance between living a full life and doggedly chasing our career goals can be a tricky prospect. In my opinion, it comes down to two things persistence and love, and mercy. For me persistence means setting clear goals and striving to meet them, personally the largest goal I currently have on the horizon is completing my bachelor’s degree by the end of the year.  Love comes into the equation in two ways.  First, as a writer I think it’s to refocus my mind on occasion, and remember why I love writing, and why I became passionate about it in the first place.  At the same time, I know it’s important to give myself love and mercy sometimes making allowances for break time and focusing on other things. This is ultimately the best way to prevent burn out and writer’s block.

Next Time

In my next post I’ll discuss my personal hobbies, and which ones really help me relax facilitating better writing.