Priority One

It's been about a month, so I guess that means it's time for another blog post.

As I read that statement, it strikes me just how half-assed the following words will be. I'll type for about fifteen minutes or so, give it a semi-glance for typographical errors, then hit the "Publish Post" button and be done with it. It'll be good enough, but it won't be mind-blowingly great.

Because, for this effort, for this forum, "good enough" really is just good enough. I don't want to spend hours upon hours agonizing over the format and context and substance and all that. Not even if this blog were my job would I do that (well, in that case, maybe). The amount of effort I am willing to expend to get this down on paper is not that much.

It's a matter of prioritizing, which is why I shifted to the once a month schedule. The format, substance, etc. of this blog just don't rank as high on my list as they once did. I sometimes question if it ever ranked very highly on the list, and it must have, because for about a six month period, I had a hell of a lot of posts.

You look at what people spend time on, and it's almost crazy. Some people spend hours putting together the perfect outfit that they're going to wear out, because they want to look just perfect, they want to convey an image, a persona, of perfection. Some people like me throw on some clothes and try not to put the underwear outside of the pants.

We constantly complain that we never have enough time to do everything that we want to, and a big part of that is just priorities, though no small part is the stresses of our society. Think about all the time you waste watching television. I'm guilty, I'm probably upwards of twenty-hours a week. Considering that the week is one hundred and sixty-eight hours, that twenty hours is a hell of a time commitment to something that is not necessarily so worthwhile. For me, that twenty hours is probably three or four more books a week.

I probably need fifty-six hours of sleep a week, and probably get forty to forty-five hours in. That's a whole extra night's worth of sleep that I'm missing out on, which could be covered if I watched that much less television. I always wonder why the going is so slow with my novel, and I could easily apply some of that time to that.

Of course, in order to live "a better life", other sacrifices must be made. Having one less avenue of conversation with Society At Large. Not knowing what's going on with the stories. Justifying the monthly expenditure for television if it isn't being watched. And so on and so forth.

Television's apparently a very high priority in my life, intentionally or unintentionally, mostly because in primal terms, it maximizes return for minimal effort. I sit there and flick a switch, and mind is entertained for hours. Even reading requires that you move your eyes across the page. Sleeping means you actually have to listen to your body and go to sleep when you're tired. I sort of wish I could cut all the stuff out of my life that doesn't benefit it, reprioritize in order to make myself "A Better Person". but again, that reeks of effort, and effort is hard.

Even right now, as I'm nodding off typing this, I think about how much I got done today, even though I was on vacation, just by stepping away from my apartment, i.e. my television, and not hooking my computer up to the internet (and the internet itself is a deadlier time sink, even as we're all so much more reliant on it than ever, but that's probably best saved for another discussion.). I set my priorities for the day, and I got so much done, it was ridiculous.

I guess there is one useful thing about television, in that it lets my mind shut off. No need to think or concentrate or worry or feel or anything. Just watch the pretty little people on the screen do their pretty little dances, and wait for the credits to roll. Plain and simple. Still, I hear tell meditation accomplishes much the same effect, and lets you grow cool facial hair in the process, so.