30 Hours a Day

For every gain there is a loss, yet for every loss there is at least at first only a potential gain. Over the last few months I’ve struggled with a problem that everyone else has at one time or another – the pesky problem that each day has only 24 hours. In it we hopefully do some of the following: eat, sleep, love, lust, play, relax, learn; the list is endless depending on how we want to spend it. It’s important to remember that we have only 24 hours in day, 168 in week to do everything that we hope to perhaps a bit more. But what are we sacrificing for our gain?

The problem begins with we ourselves, and at least at first the problem is a positive one. Thanks the variety of ways to waste our time here on earth*, and each of us assigns different meanings to each of the activities that we can choose, sleep that is nourishing for some may simply be a barrier to experience for another, the harp is sublime for some but uselessly cumbersome for others. Even eating, our most fundamental activity can be both a wonder of flavor and joy and for others a need that must be fought, controlled if it is to be any sort of benefit.

If you’ve been reading along, you know by now that it’s a rare time that I will assign any sort of object truth, and today is no exception, and like the pioneers of medicine I will throw myself on the table as test subject. Among other things in my life I have a stable job, a great cat, and apartment that I love when I clean it and a supreme passion for both performance music and writing among other things. I also have wonderful friends, an overactive social drive and not nearly enough hours in the day to cultivate all of those loves, let alone the books, the exercise, the quest for general well being and ultimately the quest to figure out the best way to wander around out green and blue (and increasingly brown) terrestrial rock we call home.

Now where does this all fit in? In a post currently on the cutting room floor, I explored just how the average American spends his/her time and the numbers reveal that while it may seem as though we have at least a few hours to give, that time completely evaporates under the microscope of analysis. Especially in my case, the struggle daily is to decide between which of my passions and interests to cover each day. Will I pursue my dreams of professionally performing as a musician or my dreams as a writer? Should I head out for the exercise that brings the well being that only my endorphins can create? Perhaps I should read for all that it brings: the mental exercise, the material to bring to this part of the interwebs, the sheer joy in immersing myself in a world of my creation and someone else’s design? I’m not even daring to touch how important my personal relationships are to me (although I admit my friends that I am often terrible at expressing this), or the time wonderfully spent with that rare Lady that inspires me?

There are times that I wonder if I don’t have enough interests, if perhaps bouldering or sailing or sculpture might be the next inspiration but sadly at a certain point we have to draw the line. Increasing numbers of studies are showing that with any type of professional success becomes a matter of some innate talent and hours upon hours of practice, and that what separates us and the could-have-beens from the successful is just a matter of time, practice and immersion in what you which to perfect. Sounds great, but what about those of us who are trying to become better without sacrificing our current situation? I know as I sit at this computer now there is no idea more sexy than being able to write as a career and a profession – I wonder just what the potential of these posts could be if I was able to devote hours to each one, to carefully smooth out the jagged words and comma spices, to select the word that is not just close enough, but perfect for what I mean. When I wander inside however, I will pick up my guitar and begin to work on some of the songs that have sprung from my life and my practice and become enamored with the idea of sharing my performance with a new crowd every night; to share what I see as beautiful, rockin' and just a plain ol’ good time – I imagine what I could with the appropriate time.

And all this before I mention the time spent with others, my social passion? This project so far has been quite interesting in at least so far as its ability to force my mind to open up and spill out to the rest of the world. I’m not one that really likes to talk about myself: I know how I think feel and move about this place, but I’m less sure about your similar activities and I would rather learn something new than rehash where I’ve been and what I think that I am. So out into the world I go, and with the need to never miss a moment whole days, evenings and weekends just slide by in the company of others.

I know that we all struggle with time management, but I hope that the problem become particularly clear now. They say it takes 10,000 hours to master a skill and I would be happy to extend skills to work, friendships, housecleaning whatever; the fact is anything we hope to develop talent in we must devote ourselves to, but where to draw the line? Even worse, where do we choose what comes at the expense of what else?

Normally I would say that better time management, properly scheduling and chunking our activities and priority setting will get us where we need to go, but I cannot believe that idea. For how can I possibly choose between my twin professional desires, the time spent with loved ones and just laying in the grass on a sunny day? Research also slows that a little bit everyday does far more than larger chunks less frequently, so how am I to immerse myself wholly in all of these endeavors? At various times I’ve stolen from my other needs be it friends at the expense of sleep, music at the expense of yoga or dedication to work in lieu of time spent cultivating Enlightenment and balance? I’ll be damned if it isn’t a currently impossible task, but I guess the best we can do is try to get as much as possible into the free hours that we actually have.

In an ideal world then we would have the time to do all that we want. Perhaps we should change the perspective on our dreams and our future to focus on a life that best allows us to fit what we need most. Thinking this way can admit that we cannot do everything that we need to for our perfect situation right now while still working towards the day when that is a reality. We will obviously have to make some tough decisions about what is our primary movers are (that is, what will most quickly bring us toward this ideal life space) and just know that we will have time to fully engage with the rest of our desires at a later date.

Of course I’m not going to say which items are more important than others, except perhaps sleep and I’ll explain the importance that I see in sleep (and sometimes the intentional lack thereof) at a later time. We all have different dreams (and thank whoever for that, if we were all driving toward the same end what a crowded space it would be in our utopia) and it’s up to us to develop the chain of circumstance that will bring us to our holistic goal. As one who has seen the trouble of trying to develop one goal at the expense of the rest of life I can say that everything must stay in balance if we are to make true progress – for that which we ignore will begin to return to seed, like a flower left unattended in the pot.

I find myself wishing to go on and on on the topic, and perhaps that means that there will be a Part II at some time soon, but my other priorities are taking precedence. I need my sleep for I haven’t had enough and I need my guitar, for she hasn’t seen me in a week. In the meanwhile consider just what you are doing to push yourself where you ultimately want to go with all of yourself rather than that thing you want right now, the time is well worth the effort.


*In a very real way, I believe that we’re all just wasting time until we pass on to the next whatever, but I don’t believe in the least that this truth is a problem. Just the opposite, it sets us free. A contentious claim yes, but one I’ll flesh out later.