happiness

No, I Don’t Have Too Much Time

/ Jim / Leave a comment

I’ve been seeing a certain phrase a lot lately. One that really makes me irrationally angry. You can find it on any social media post where someone has done something a bit creative or just plain fun:

Well, someone has too much time on their hands.

Some Asshole.

I really really hate this phrase. It implies that if you have created anything that isn’t related to some kind of job (those things that suck away far too much of our lives), then you are wasting your time. It’s dismissive of the creative act. The same mentality that makes people assume that you’re doing nothing because you’re reading a book. Yes I am doing something, I’m reading a book. How did we get this frame of mind that doing something you love and enjoy is a waste of time?

Seriously, I’m asking because it baffles me. Maybe I’m a bit sensitive to it because the past few weeks I haven’t had as much time as I would like to do the things I love. Sometimes life just gets int he way. So surely then, it’s even more important to use what little time you find to do those things. We aren’t supposed to be drones who just go to work, slave away all day, then come home and stare blankly at the TV so we can repeat the whole process again tomorrow into perpetuity.

Do what you love whenever you get a chance. You want to build a massive LEGO rollercoaster in your back gaarden, do it. You want to spend a whole weekend as a level 5 Tiefling Druid battling owlbears, do it. There is no waste of time when it’s something you love and feel passionate about. Remember these words of wisdom from George Bernard Shaw:

We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing.

George Bernard Shaw

Read that book, build that LEGO fort and roll those dice. And most of all, do the things you love.

Why Do We Do It?

/ Jim / 2 Comments

That’s something I get asked a lot by my none writing friends. Why do write? Aren’t you little old to be making up stories?

Okay, number one: Too old? Care to ask Stephen King that same question!

As to the more serious point of why…well you will get a different answer from any writer you ask. You may even get the old stand by: “Because it isn’t there” (I love clichés don’t you?). The truth is that some of us just love to write. We have all of these wonderful worlds that we want to share with the world. Are we just hopeless dreamers? some of us are. yes. Are we wasting time that could be spent doing more “productive things”? Depends on how you define productive.

Too say that we don’t provide some of value to society is so wrong that it’s far beyond the scope of this particular rambling. Plus it’s really bad for my blood pressure.

To be honest my reasons for writing are a little more than just wanted to tell my stories.

A major part of why I write is due to my stammer. When you can take a 30 seconds to utter a 10 second sentence you quickly learn to find other ways of communicating. Even though I came to terms with my stutter a long time ago I still get self conscious on occasion. Meeting new people is generally less than pleasant (that’s why I keep all my friends in my computer ;-D ). To be honest I think it’s more uncomfortable for my listeners these days than it has me. Something that my more sadistic side has taken some pleasure from MWAHAHAHAHA!

But when I write it’s a different story. I can become the person that I hear when I speak, except now every one else can hear me as well. The pleasure you get from that feeling is greater than any high, legal or other, that will ever experience. This isn’t restricted to writing of course. Anyone who does the job that they love will know what this feeling is like. When they can truly be who they are and share that with the world.

Why do I write?

Simply put, it makes me happy. But more importantly; It’s who I am 🙂