Crafts two days ago. Games yesterday. Today I had to face the music.
Like, literally. But also figuratively. Because I’ve been avoiding a bit of reality and it’s been coming at me for the last few days.
Today I was going to do books, but then saw a few binders full of CDs on the bookshelf and decided to shift to music. After a little while of getting lost down memory lanes of BMG music club, driving to college blasting ska and Christian rock, and a time when leading worship meant fighting with the printer to not smudge the lyrics to Delirious’s new worship song on the acetate for the overhead projector, I found myself surrounded by piles of CDs. I didn’t count how many there were, but based on the binders, I would say easily 100. I don’t know how long each specific CD was, but I distinctly remember my mix CDs getting cut off around 80 minutes, so let’s say they average about 80 minutes each. The only CD player I currently have is in my car. I’m probably in my car less than 3 hours a week these days, and for at least part of that time I’m not choosing the playlists. (The Chronicles of Narnia is typically our current jam.) So, for arguments sake, let’s say I’m choosing the music in my car for about 2.5 hours a week. At that rate, it would take me one.entire.year to listen to those CDs. Just once. And those CDs don’t even reflect what I spend most of my time listening to these days (though I’m still on a one-girl mission to bring back ska).
In my craft dresser, I had supplies for cross stitch, embroidery, sewing, Cricut crafts, leatherworking, watercolors, resin jewelry, beaded jewelry, glass cutting, stamping, stenciling, wood burning, metal stamping and probably a dozen others I’m forgetting. And I’ve tried every one of them and enjoyed them. Well, not so much water coloring. I’m ridiculously horrid. It was a quarantine family experiment. I enjoy the rest. But when exactly am I going to fit in these dozens of crafts? And practice the ukulele? And guitar? And apparently, I own a violin? And a zither, practice bells, and all the teach-yourself-piano 3.5” floppy disks that came with our hand-me-down Clavinova? (Yes, I don’t just have a collection of CDs, I also still have a collection of 3.5” floppy disks. And I haven’t yet touched my records and 8 tracks. Kids, an 8 track is…nevermind.)
The girl who buys and keeps all these hobbies and books and CDs and everything else apparently has WAAAAYYYYY more time than anyone else I know. That girl is not me. Last night I was proud of myself that I got the dishes washed before falling into bed much later than I planned.
Thinking about my things in terms of the time it would require to participate in, much less master, the varied activities I have supplies for helped me drastically reduce my CDs, sheet music, instruments, craft supplies, and fabric stash.
<and all the quilters gasped in horror>
Uncovering Real 