Make Time

For any of you who have been following this blog, you may notice that Thursday is my art day. Basically, it started out with me taking design classes on Wednesdays last Spring, which made it so I worked a four day schedule at my “day job.” When my classes were over, I was supposed to start working five days, but I mustered my courage and asked my boss if I could continue working four days, with a promise to myself to have a whole glorious day to do art. Lucky me—they said yes, and here I am eight months later, still working only four days, with Thursdays having been that special day for about five months now.

The other four days of the week, mostly I wake up grumbling, literally. I am angry at the clock, or the hour of the morning, or my fiance for being in my way as I try to make breakfast. Maybe I’m not that bad—you’ll have to ask Mike, but I am definitely not dancing around the house singing. I’ve never been a morning person (just ask my mom), but going to a job I don’t love, definitely does not make it better.

But on Thursdays, I feel like a different person. I don’t feel dread, I have visibly high spirits as I look out on a day completely set aside for art. Living a Thursday is like living the life I want to live—getting just a little piece of it, enough to energize me to keep plugging along. I never knew how setting aside concrete time to work on my dream would make the dream more visible—this day helps me prove to myself that I can keep going with my goals, that I can trust myself to get work done, and that I can live my dream life, even if just for one day a week.

This brings me to the point of this whole monologue. I think it’s easy to say that there is not enough time to pursue a dream, or I’m too old, or too young, or if I can’t do it fully, I will never succeed. But, it’s just not true. Forgive the bold statement there, but you’re doing yourself a disservice if you are living in that illusion.

You may say, I don’t have a whole day—but all you need is an hour, or a half hour, or ten minutes for that matter. You must start somewhere. You just have to make time.

I’m not just talking about grand visions here, I’m talking about joy and happiness—and wanting more of those things in your life. You don’t have to dislike your job, or want to turn your life upside-down, I’m talking about anyone who wants more time to do the things that bring them joy. It starts with ten minutes—reading a poem on your lunch break, taking the scenic route, visiting the library on your way home, stopping by the craft store after work, drawing while you wait for the bus. These little joys can add up to so much happiness, and before you know it, you may be setting aside whole hours and days just for the pure joy of it.

And with that, I put out an eternal thank you for Thursdays, and for all of the little joys like hot showers, eating good dinners, furry beasts that chew on their claws loudly (as my dog Lance is doing right now), sunshine and colorful socks.