Friday, November 8, 2013

What Bloggers Do, When We Aren't Blogging


 Does anyone else hear crickets?

Wow.  This has literally been the longest span between blog posts that I've ever had.  It has also marked the only month in over 2 and a half years that I've only posted twice in said month.  Typically, you will see bloggers start apologizing for long gaps between posts, claiming that Real Life(™) got in the way, etc.  I'm not here to do that, though it did spark a topic that is interesting to me, at least from an editorial point of view…

Just what do we do when we aren't blogging?

Time flies folks, lets face it, especially when you are balancing work, family, hobby and other responsibilities all at the same time.  This is the reason why I don't think it's necessary to apologize for not posting.  The long and the short of it, is that I had to prioritize my time, and the hobby had to be put on the back burner for a bit so that more important things could be done.  Would I have liked to post more often?  Of course I would!  I enjoy writing about a hobby I love.  Heck, I just enjoy writing!  But you know who wins between painting toy soldiers, and writing about said toy soldiers, and my son wanting to do something?  Yup, my son. The same could be said for my wife, my family and my friends.  That's just called priorities. 

So why don't I say that Real Life(™) got in the way?  Because my hobby is part of my life.  Its a creative and social outlet for me to indulge in and have fun with.  A mental vacation, if you will, necessary for everyone whether they admit it or not, that could take any form really.  Mine, and many of yours, just takes the form of toy soldiers and the interaction with thereof.  That being said, because it is a part of my Real Life(™), when I'm not active at it, I miss it.  However, because the rest of my life is even more important at times, I don't feel guilty about not partaking in it when I can't, either.

So what do I do when I'm no blogging, painting, sculpting or playing?

I spend time with my family.  I work at and with my church, I hang out with friends, and I work my tail off with overtime sometimes.  I like to go fishing, and enjoy cooking...I draw and paint various subject matter and I read gobs of books.

And in the middle of it all, when work and life just gets hectic?  I peruse the blogosphere and forums in little snippets of time, waiting fondly for when I can get back to my beloved hobby, and the community that makes it so great.

So what do you do when you aren't hobbying?

- Tim

2 comments:

  1. Family first, work, day to day chores (Now being fall there is a constant battle with the leaves - damn you trees I will win! I will!), battle with whatever illness the little one has brought home, movies, videos games and sometimes I even sleep - though, sleep is for the weak. Right now though my family is being patient as I am working like a dog on piece to be auctioned off on eBay in support of the brush fires in Australia! Hobby related charity work gets me a lot of slack since it doesn't happen very often that I can use the hobby to make a difference.

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  2. I think you'll find its the same for most of us - my non hobby time is spent at work (about 40% of my time), enjoying down time with my family and my friends (another 50%), unwinding on the couch with a book or a movie, or reading about other people hobby exploits (that final 10%). To do some of my own hobby means looking at each of the tasks I know I should be doing i a day and finding ways to shave 1-2% of time from that where its feasable to make the time to sit down and paint or model or think about a game etc.

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