It usually takes me about 5 to 10 days to figure out — that is to say, to remember — why it is I generally avoid taking part in events and challenges that require me to show up and do some particular task, every day.
So, what I am reminded of, is the fact that I am not very good at creativity-on-demand.
Here we are, on day eight of this #HiveBloPoMo blogging Challenge and I find myself already thinking "OMG, not again!" Which is not a really good attitude to have if you're part of something that requires you to take a specific action for 30 consecutive days, without fail. In this case, write a blog post.
In my case, write a blog post that's better than just plain shitposting! That's my own rule, not the contest's rule...
It probably also explains why I have always sucked at such things as attempts to get in shape, and attempts to change my eating habits, attempts to be more organized... all of which require a repeated daily commitment before the new habit actually takes hold.
Truth is, I'm rarely gung-ho about doing much of anything for more than a few days and then I start to distract myself with unrelated sidetracks and then I fucus those and so on and so forth.
In some ways, I could argue that it's a small miracle that I'm still (active) on Hive after almost 7 years. But the truth of the matter is that in the course of those seven years I have actually missed lots of days and sometimes been gone for three or four consecutive days before coming back again.
I could concoct a face-value excuse that "my life doesn't lend itself very well to routine," given that I work for myself and half the time I don't know how many hours and which hours I'm going to be doing any specific thing.
But that would really be a lie, wouldn't it?
A far more plausible explanation would be the fact that I really struggle with focus. And my brain quite literally demonstrates a tendency to go to sleep when I feel like I'm forced to do a specific thing. Even if I actually volunteered to do that thing. Which leads me to believe that the mistake isn't in the way my brain works but in the fact that I agree to do these things, and spite of repeated prior proof that it's really not my scene!
No, I don't regret that I decided to sign up for this blogging challenge on Hive. I'm just being straightforward about the fact that after a week it's already starting to become a bit of a struggle. And it's only going to get worse this weekend when we have an Arts & Crafts event to go to and I will be out of the house for a good 12-13 hours each on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Maybe there really is something legit about saying that my life doesn't lend itself well to routine-ish things...
I don't mean this is an actual complaint; it's more of a realization that the vast majority of the world is set up for people who have very specific schedules. In fact, I'd submit that much of Human Experience revolves around schedules.
Consider this: We're taught "schedules" from the moment we start grade school and gradually school just basically becomes a "practice session" for when we're going to go into a job which is also done according to a schedule.
Having been self-employed for most of my life, I guess I just have to admit that I struggle with schedules. Heck, I struggled with schedules when I was in college and would deliberately sign up for courses that were spread out through the day so that I could go off and do different things in between.
I remember having days where I'd have a class from 8:00-9:00 in the morning, another from 1:00-2:00 in the afternoon, and a third from 6:00-7:00 in the evening.
People thought I was nuts! But it worked... for me!
Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!
Graphic by @traciyork
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly and uniquely for this platform — NOT posted anywhere else!)
Created at 2023-11-08 18:48 PST
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