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analyzing my priorities

Posted by Au Lim On Thursday, October 30, 2008 0 comments
it seems 24 hours in a day is never enough for me these days. not that i'm too busy with things that are of great consequence. i think i just have too many interests on top of many familial and work duties. these days, photography and scrapbooking is my passion but i also like sewing (or at least learning it!), quilting, crochet, learning the piano, baking, cooking, hanging out with friends, surfing the internet, yoga and, oh yeah, i love TV too. it often feels like I have to squeeze in work and family in the midst of all these. there something wrong with this, right?

an alarm is sounding off in my head and i feel i have to stand back and reassess my priorities. last time i looked, i had it all straight: family first, and work a very close second. this is so because one has to be supported by the other. health should also be a top priority being not so young and an asthmatic as well. i must consider this if i intend to have the quality of life i want even in my later years. a spiritual pursuit is also important for one's wellbeing. having said that, life will not be much fun without going after something with passion and intention. i have managed to always have something to be excited about especially in the way of arts and crafts. in the past it has been cross-stitch, paper tole, dollhouse miniatures, scaled models, beading, gardening and these days it's all of those that i mentioned in the paragraph above. i think i am a crafter at heart but i never considered myself an artist despite doing some graphic design stints for a few years. probably because i was doing that for pay and according to the whims of other people, i.e. my clients, instead of mine. besides, i never had any formal training in the arts.

not even when i started doing scrapbooking did i consider this craft an art. probably because majority of the world does not consider it so. however, it is via this avenue did i see doors into other worlds that i think are indeed art…even my scrapbooking itself was evolving into something LIKE art. but only when it lead me into photography did it really hit home that all these were becoming MY art. And my art was fast becoming my life… along with the all delightful friends i have gained along the way. i am also internet addicted both out of necessity and pleasure (oh the many, many things in cyberspace to read, learn, know and the social networks to explore). family and work are still top priority but my time with these are becoming substantially limited. health is taking a backseat and spiritual pursuit is practically forgotten.

so here my problem lies… where does all the time in my 24 hour day go? at least something like 6 hours of sleep is mandatory of course but how do I spend the other 18? i seriously don't know the answer. Sometimes it feels like my day just started, then i turned around and it is evening. i think i am spreading myself too thin already on a lot of fronts. i must figure out a way to regain some intentional control over the myriad of things i have to do and want to do. i think i got too spoiled with riding my "flow". it's really great for creativity but it wreaks havoc on the rest of my world. i think i need to do some serious soul searching on time and life management. Sigh… i hope i figure all this out soon.

Photo Essay