What Will I Do?
ROb
Well, the time is drawing near! In two weeks, I will have no job and life will never be the same! At least, hopefully...if I end up full circle back at this point, then...Well, then I guess I'd better have a damn good reason for it. So much work, though! I just found out that the course catalog that I based my degree off of was out dated, and need to redo it! Oy, doing stuff involves so much doing stuff!
This is all only finally beginning to seem "real" to me. I find my thoughts wandering more and more towards the future - just what will I do with a month and a half off??
I've never not worked, since I started working. Now, I've planned on a month and a half between ending this job, and beginning school. My focus keeps accidentally drifting towards the "rationality" side of life, and I get spooked...no job lined up? what am I gonna do? Will I find a decent job that will be school friendly and still allow me time to see my girlfriend? A couple of full time "good job" offers have come up as people hear I'm leaving...should I be taking them? No! That would be me stuck back in "just another job", and I'm out for dreams here, not a paycheck.
So, what to do with more time than I've had since I was a teenager? Should I plan something? I'd hate to "just" dilly-dally it away...but would that really be bad? My interests are wide and varied, should I concentrate on "just" one, and master a..something? Should I spread it around, and experience a lot, but get little "accomplished"?
So, let's see...lists are good, I've always found them handy. What are some things I'm interested in?
- Spend Time with Ginger: This is a biggie, but she'll still be working a full time job. I think this means my free time will be limited to 8 hours a day, but I get to see her after work and on the weekends without having a long drive from work! I'm hoping she'll take off a day or two so we can have fun playing in the sun.
- Painting: I do know that I WILL paint over my summer. I've got the bug, and a couple of canvasi, a few ideas, and a fascination with art. I will make time for this one, even if it comes out horrible.
- Learning to play the Banjo: I bought a used banjo a couple of years ago, and started to learn. I was doing sorta okay at it, but then I got a girlfriend and it fell. Should I try to pick this back up? Playing a new instrument is a big pain in the ass, but I don't really have an instrument to call my own yet. Actually, just making music is an interest that I would love to pursue...I feel that I could spend an entire month-and-a-half and only get a fraction of the way towards actually making any music. This one might not be feasible.
- Reading/Learning - I have SO many books to read, and i haven't gotten to read any of them since I moved! I will definitely spend time over my summer reading some books...should I read a couple all the way through, or spread the love over many books?
- Playing: I love to play. I'm SO looking forward to actually existing during the daytime! It's so much more interesting when all the corporate-types are locked away in offices, and I'm out in the sun. Will I walk around town? Downtown? Go to parks, and...what? I'll definitely party with some of my night-working friends, but they don't get up until after noon, so will that mean that I miss out on hanging out with my girlfriend after 5?
- Martial Arts/Fitness: How much time should I spend practicing Bagua? Maybe I could dedicate my self to a month of sobriety and training - how far would it take me? Will I just end up sweaty and need a break from my break? Maybe I can combine this with "Playing", and get over my self consciousness of practicing forms in a public area. Should I take up running? Go to the gym?
- MEET PEOPLE (Zaadzsters???): I want to get out and meet some people, make some new contacts! I already have a lot of friends, and they're a lot to handle..I need acquaintances, haha. I'm really hoping to meet some Zaadz-folk, I hear they grow thick in the Boulder area which isn't too far. What'll I use to hook up some lunch/coffee/something meetups and dig my self more snugly into the Zaadz culture?
- Volunteer: I've been thinking about volunteering at places - is that something that can be easily done just for a month or so? Is there anything secular and interesting for a person that wants to donate some time?
- Tour the National Energy Something'er'other: I drive by it every day on I-70, national energy...umm..something. I knew it before. Oh! National Renewable Energy Laboratory! I hear they give tours, and since my degree will be in something like renewable/sustainable energy, that would be a kick!
- Improve on Playing Go: This is a game that I really freaking fell in love with. I started learning a few years ago though, and it really takes an IMMENSE time-drop to get even kinda good at! I think this is still somewhere far in my future when my other hobbies drop off, and i'm just an old man with too much time on my hands. Still, though, I might try and get a game or two in online.
- Write a book: I have a few ideas for a couple of different books...would it be worthwhile to just write a few pages of a book each day, and see what happens? I hear the book market is a killer machine these days, would I want to get into that?
- Look around at buddhist/zen temples: That would just rock.
- Art Museums: again, the rocking.
- Test out of pre-reqs for college: I think I'm gonna end up wanting to test out of a Lot of stuff for college...at $80 a pop, though...? So maybe I'll need some study time and such?
- I Don't Know: I don't know! I've never had time off, what will I end up doing?? Looking at this list, I think i'm screwed...a month and a half is a lot of time, but it's not a lotta time! And really...will i be able to structure it like this?
So, things are starting to swirl around as my head spins with the possibility of the future. I'm definitely going to take time to relax, and wouldn't want to schedule out every second of my days or anything, but still; I do know the power of planning, and if there was one thing that was really killer that I could complete, and improve myself with over a month? That'd be somethin', wouldn't it?
I'm DEFINITELY being aware to NOT fill up my time with "obligations" and whatevers. I'd just end up needing time off from my time off. That'd be horrrible... maybe a week or two of nothin' first, before venturing. Probably, actually, I'll end up just doin' whatever I want to..but I have a way of just zoning out on things for a long time without getting anything accomplished, hence the idea of introducin' a little structure.
So yeah, the mind reels! Balancing the excitement of following dreams, with the rational freak-out of "getting something out of it" and even questioning now - is this really my dream? It is interesting how things unravel, I just want to see if there's an opportunity for an ounce of planning now, to bring great accomplishment then.
Access: Public
cando
May 2007 
Hey Rob, I've been there, and let me tell you that those 6 weeks will FLY by. You won't believe how short the days are! I won't try to tell you what to do with your time, but you're right in thinking that you should pinpoint a few things before hand and make appointments with yourself if you'd like to get some stuff done. I do have some advice though, again, from experience.
1. Get up at a decent hour! Sleeping late is just about the best way to cut your time in half! You get up around 10, by the time you've showered and had something to eat (in slow-mo, of course) it's after lunch and then, boom you realize there's not much you can do and be done by 5:00.
2. When you get up, get all the way up. IOW, put on real clothes. For some reason, lounging around in jammies all day invites a sort of “I'm no good” depression thing that makes you feel like a person without a job doesn't have a reason to greet the day.
3. Stay away from the stores. Yep. Even if you're not “a shopper” you'll think of all kinds of things you should go check out, now that you have time. Unless you've got lotsa dough saved up, this is a very expensive way to spend your time!
4. I love the Zaadz meet & greet idea. You should start a pod for your area and invite folks from around you to join (you can sort Zaadzsters by where they're from). Then organize a lunch date in Boulder or something. Maybe more than one! That idea really rocks. At any rate, connect with real people on a daily basis, even if it means going someplace where you don't know anybody (you mentioned museums and temples). Observe human nature and write about it, or paint it, or whatever.
Those are my thoughts. I think you'll have a great time. You have some really awesome ideas in mind. No, you can't do all of 'em, but so what? You'll do what fits and save the rest for another time.
Cheers!
Diane
Hey Rob,
Diane has some great points. During my 14 year marriage to a very needy partner it never failed that in the rare moments I had time to myself I wound end up wasting most of it trying to decide what to do. I always had a long and growing list of fun things to do but rarely spent quality time on any of them.
So definately decide on one or two. If you finish one you always have more to start.
Oh, and enjoy the time off. It is rare…
Peace~
David
I vote for learning to play the banjo. They sound cool. Then again I really want to learn to play the banjo someday. So….
Rob & Umguy, my husband, Dave, plays banjo. (No time to explain the picture here!) He's sitting right here and says if you spend a couple of hours in the morning and a couple hours in the afternoon teaching yourself, you can get pretty far in 6 weeks. I will add that ever after you will be addicted to playing and you will carve out time to keep with it. You will meet others who play the style you choose and these (I swear) will be life-long friends. You will never go wrong choosing to spend your time with music. But, as I said before, I don't want to tell you what to do! LOL.
Hi, Rob! Thanks for the advice at my Blog–I was pretty down this afternoon. Last year at this time, I was taking six weeks off before I began my current program. I had a lot planned–some trips, volunteer work, hobbies, etc. It all fell apart. At the time, it was very frustrating and disheartening. But in that space time gave me some unusual and unlooked for gifts, and I wouldn't change it, now. “Vacation” is weird, that way… :) Hope you have a great time with yours!
Hehe… I was SO standing in your shoes about 6 years back…..leaving a 12 hour a day six day a week career and a life of constantly “doing” things….and looking at an extended sabbaticle and no map for how to go about it. It was scary and weird and exhilerating all at the same time.
After the first few months of waking up feeling like I had to optimize my day, I got really used to not having an agenda and actually looked forward to not knowing what I would do from one day to the next. My perfectly controlled and “safe” structured life morphed into spontineity and freedom and living in the moment and following my intuition and heart at every turn….something I would have never imagined back in my perfectionistic, planned, control filled days.
That “short sabbaticle” has now turned into about 6 years of being self-employed, making my own schedule, waking when I feel rested and playing when I feel like it. It is like night and day from who I used to be, but now that I am here I can't imagine ever going back. Funny thing is that when I was in the corporate world, I couldn't ever imagine leaving.
You are an amazingly creative man Rob. You'll find so many ways to fill your time during your sabbaticle and even more ways to make money when the time comes. My only advice is to have lots of fun whatever you decide. And if I might add one to you list….. here's one of my all time favorite past times…….. take a nap….. just because you can. :-)
Painting is always good! ;)
I think that a person can do much more in a short space of time than you think. The busier you are the more you get done. But DO TAKE TIME TO REST. Sometimes just pondering life helps. But you can do this by occupying yourself by reading, painting, playing the banjo. whatever. I hope it is going well.