Sunday, March 26, 2006
Sunday Slobber
The end of the month is always a jammed-up time for me. I’m committed to turning in a column a month for an on-line magazine (www.audacitymagazine.com), and there’s always a packet of material from a local anti-poverty group to review. Some people would write the column well in advance, I guess, and then just send it before the deadline.
Some people, but not me.
I wonder if there’s a gene for procrastination. I’ve pretty well accepted that while I put things off, I usually get them done. It’s just the way I am. I know I’m not the only one. Part of getting old is realizing that there’s just not enough time any more to trash myself with as many neurotic conflicts as I used to do. A friend of mine pointed out that the ultimate goal of all kinds of therapies is simply self-acceptance—not necessarily personal change. The personal change isn’t possible when we’re all wrapped up in trying to make ourselves better, in trying to jettison well-entrenched habits, wanting to be liked, different, blah blah. Those conflicts use up most all of our psychic energy and most often end up in deadlocks, anyhow. Seems to me that when we stop trying to change, trying to force ourselves to be different, then energy is freed up and who knows what’s possible...
Anyhow, the column is done and sent off. The packet of materials hasn’t arrived yet. In the time I used writing the column, stuff piled up for the blog. Now most of that has been posted and the desktop on my computer has a lot fewer icons on it. That’s a relief. Now I can figure out what's important in the present and get on with it.
Some people, but not me.
I wonder if there’s a gene for procrastination. I’ve pretty well accepted that while I put things off, I usually get them done. It’s just the way I am. I know I’m not the only one. Part of getting old is realizing that there’s just not enough time any more to trash myself with as many neurotic conflicts as I used to do. A friend of mine pointed out that the ultimate goal of all kinds of therapies is simply self-acceptance—not necessarily personal change. The personal change isn’t possible when we’re all wrapped up in trying to make ourselves better, in trying to jettison well-entrenched habits, wanting to be liked, different, blah blah. Those conflicts use up most all of our psychic energy and most often end up in deadlocks, anyhow. Seems to me that when we stop trying to change, trying to force ourselves to be different, then energy is freed up and who knows what’s possible...
Anyhow, the column is done and sent off. The packet of materials hasn’t arrived yet. In the time I used writing the column, stuff piled up for the blog. Now most of that has been posted and the desktop on my computer has a lot fewer icons on it. That’s a relief. Now I can figure out what's important in the present and get on with it.
