09 March 2011

One Minute

I am starting a movement, a call to action, and I urge concerned citizens everywhere to adopt this cause. Start a Facebook group, Tweet it, email your state representatives, because this one is important:

We need more hours in the day.

Well, I do anyway.

Between family and work and graduate school (in order of priority), I have approximately 30-45 minutes a day to myself. And that time can be spent 1) reading, 2) working out, or 3) writing this blog or other pet projects. These are all things that I need to do to stay sane and healthy. Each one, really, deserves at least 30-45 minutes unto itself.

But there is only enough time for one a day. And sometimes, when a project is due, or I'm sick, or someone else is sick, that time just disappears. And all you can do is hope that tomorrow will be better.

And don’t talk to me about multi-tasking. Research has shown that there is an inverse relationship between the quantity of things people are doing and the quality with which they can do them.

So I figure one logical answer is for there to be more hours in the day. I am currently pushing for 30, but am open to negotiation.

The other answer would be to expand the hours that we have so that they are longer.

For instance, this past weekend, Eamon, Aaron, Nesta, and I all went to Kiln Creek Park. One of the baseball fields was free, so we claimed it as our own. I let Nesta off the leash so that she could run. Aaron and I kicked around a miniature soccer ball while Eamon ran after it shrieking, “Mine! Mine!” Afterwards, we all sat together on the ground.

The sun was hidden behind the clouds, but the weather was warm with a light, cool breeze.

I ran my fingers through the soft grass.

I watched Eamon and Aaron wrestle and giggle.

And for that minute, there was no work. There was no graduate school. There were no bills and no past due assignments. There were no obligations, no worries.

Time stopped.

For a minute.

Okay, screw the extra six hours a day campaign.

I would settle for just one of those minutes each day.




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