This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be?
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose--Switchfoot
This January, I wrote off being able to blog for awhile, but lately I've been able to post frequently. This is a result of a surprisingly calm semester, for the most part. Either I've figured out after three years of school how to do the minimum amount of work, or it gets easier as the semesters tick by. I think it's a combination of both.
But I have another reason for being able to update the ol' blog so often. With this newfound free time, I initially ended up on the couch every night after work or on the weekends, watching TV with a glazed-over look. I realized that my life consisted of work and school, with an occasional outing with Manuel. I've had this mindset that my life doesn't truly begin until I'm done with school. You know, the "life" that I had envisioned as an optimistic teenager, wondering what I'm going to be when I grow up.
Let's face it, although I often feel as if I'm not a full-fledged member of the adulthood club because I don't have children of my own yet, I'm a "grown up" now. What I do at work, after work, on the weekends, in my spare time, and what we spend our money on -- this is it. There's no waiting until after I officially become an attorney or Manuel gets a promotion.
I didn't want my life to become a 40-hour work week (and for now, an additional 20+ hours in class/schoolwork) that in turn simply enables us to buy new things and watch TV all evening.
So in an effort to make sure I'm living intentionally and not waiting for another milestone, I re-examined my "free time." Writing is something I have always enjoyed. I would say, probably as young as eight years old, that I wanted to be an author or a journalist when I grew up. I am extremely privileged to be able to write almost my entire day at work, but it often consists of dry, logical, formulaic legal briefs. So I am thankful to have an outlet here, and I've been more intentional about pursuing this writing hobby of mine.
Along the same lines, reading is another love of mine. Obviously, being in school limits how much I can read for pleasure, but this semester I have read at least three non-law books. Not only has my Kindle been getting some use, but I've added many new blogs to my blog reader. It's so edifying to keep up on what others are thinking. Any reading or writing I've done lately has been solely within the domain of faith/religion/Christianity, but once I have more time, I would love to delve into politics again. Just in time for the circus that is the presidential election...
Other areas I'm excited to pursue are music and volunteering. We are unable to get a good upright piano at this time, so I have my eye on a decent electronic one that feels almost exactly like an actual piano. I already volunteer a few times a year with World Relief, helping immigrants fill out their citizenship paperwork, but I want to do more, especially since I'm fluent in Spanish. I'm especially drawn to the area of intimate-partner violence, so I'll start this summer as an advocate. Having been blessed with so much, I feel so wasteful not sharing a little bit of my time to hopefully help others out.
The hope is that I can continue living on purpose and not allow my time to get sucked up by TV and aimless internet rabbit holes. I do still watch TV -- I couldn't miss The Good Wife! -- but the fact that my life has already started without me realizing it has been an eye-opener. I had plans of someday recycling and carpooling and keeping up with current events and reading good books, etc...but that "someday" is now!
Well, get to writing . . . I am reading!
Posted by: Doctodd | April 26, 2011 at 10:07 PM
Thanks!! I'm sure Carol Gilligan's book will provide lots of blogging inspiration, too!
Posted by: Natalie | April 27, 2011 at 04:20 PM