Fitting Fun into Real Life

Today at work, proud parents were displaying photographs of their precious dumplings swaddled in their Halloween finery. I was appreciative of the detail of their costumes and the mature flair each depicted cherub brought to his character. There was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, a lion, a turtle, a skeleton, Dracula and a pumpkin. Of course there was also a diminutive Spiderman. As I admired the photograph of the dynamic little webbed crusader I thought to myself, "Gee, I wish I was Spiderman. That could really speed up my commute."

The key here was the notion that a commute free life would suddenly grant me endless hours of time that could be used for more noble pursuits. But let's be honest. It's not just the commute--there are countless other routine things that demand attention daily that force ancillary pursuits to the back corner of another day. I'm sure there will be time to fit these other adventures into my life eventually. I plan to. Still, I believe in planning ahead so I'm keeping a working list of things I will do when I have a guarantee of random hours at my disposal.

I'd like to engage in volunteer work. I'd finally learn to knit properly. Sign up for garden duty at the ovals in Riverside Park. I owe many people a proper letter--the thoughtful, detailed, handwritten kind; long overdue and written in my head countless times. I'd actually attempt holiday shopping now instead of starting on December 21st. Try to pick up painting again. Start reading the stack of books on my nightstand. Take a foreign language course. Work in a pilates class. Get a facial. And hey, maybe I'd even attempt some real writing.

It's just a matter of time.