Up until late this spring, the early morning hours before I went to work were my favorite time of the day. Then the company I work for was forced to reduce my hours, and I find I have more time before and after work. And fewer hours in which to do the job.
I find it noteworthy that I find myself floundering a bit with this time that exceeds my previous needs for leisure. It’s almost as confounding as adapting to the loss of revenue.
If I were to adopt a logo representing how I feel about this, it would have to express conflicting feelings. On one hand, more time to create. On the other hand, there are expectations to still get it all done on the job. And then there are practical considerations. Gee, I can do – you name it. No, I can’t. I can’t afford it.
I don’t do well with vacant time. I don’t watch TV, and rarely spend evenings on film. This restless energy is among the reasons I have to plan out my winters so carefully. The lack of daylight and warmth rob me of shop hours in my sparsely heated greenhouse workshop. That same lack of warmth also stops dead in it’s tracks all my gardening efforts.
In a walk in clinic I worked in dduring my undergrad days we had a term for what I am having. We called it and “Adjustment crisis to everyday living.”
It’s always nice to have a name for things. Isn’t it?
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In the UK it’s reduced hours or no hours thanks to government steal all available profits from businesses.
Still a bit of extra free time can be fun for us creatives can’t it.
Just as long as I can pay the bills!
Yes that is by far the most important bit. I hope you can pay the bills too.
Adjustment crisis to everyday living. That’s a good one. I used to watch movies in sections: 40 minutes or so, then turn it off and go do something. I could usually finish a single movie over 3 or 4 days, if I stuck with it. Now I’m living with a partner who loves his hours of TV time every single night. It’s one of the only times in a day when we get to sit together, so I join him. When we dated, we used to play board games instead – a million times more fun for me. I have been trying to get him to do that again. I have suggested one night a week. I’m still working on it….
Ahhhhh…life with partners. It’a am adjustment process all of it;s own. But worth it!
Wow. I totally get, “Adjustment Crisis to everyday living” — that can be pretty traumatic, actually. It’s a cascade of change and a feeling of being unbalanced. Good luck, Lou.
Thanks, Martha!