Donwannas

[mrissa]

I have a really intense case of the donwannas.

One of the symptoms is being obscured by the craziness that is June, and that symptom is cooking. You can tell when I have the donwannas because I want to cook a million different things, but of course I also want to cook a million different things when I've been away out of town or going to a convention and not cooking much. I really do enjoy cooking. But it's also an activity of great virtue, you see. Soup for friends with a new baby: virtuous! Making a pasta salad that will feed us for days in leftovers is in a very literal sense nourishing myself and my family, and therefore: virtuous!

Insisting that, no, of course we should have the very first meal that sounds good, even if it means that I run to the store and do not get writing done in that time...perhaps not so virtuous.

I am a champion procrastinator, which means that I choose other worthy activities for procrastinating from the ones I should be doing. I'm not slacking off on revising this novel! I'm writing a short story, which is important work! (And it is. It totally is.) I'm not neglecting my work! I'm spending time with my family members! (Also genuinely important.)

I just...need to figure out a way not to feel so peevish and avoidant of the stuff I'm not doing. It's not that I need to stop writing short stories or cooking or playing the piano or spending time with my family. But I do need to stop framing it in terms of the roads not taken. I don't have to justify a short story by comparing it to the novel I'm avoiding. But I do have to eventually stop avoiding the novel.

Or at least write another one that I'm not avoiding. Or a bunch more short stories. This being, y'know. What I do.

All the other stuff is what I do, too, though.

Comments

[retrobabble.livejournal.com]

Is that what you call it? Good one - donwannas. I thought I was the only one today -- totally sucked at getting anything done on my list. The only thing missing was the whining...I think. :P

[biguglymandoll.livejournal.com]

Good heavens, you just described half my life. Oddly, no one who knows me in person would guess that. Not sure what that says...

Good luck, regardless!

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I wrote the whole of Farthing while procrastinating and avoiding Lifelode.

So there you go, really.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Indeed!

*chuckling*

[prettymuchpeggy.livejournal.com]

My inner two year old is very much in a donwanna mood. (Now, I have another thing to blame....it's in the air I say... I say. ;) ) There are a couple of big projects that I should tackle. Except for a nibble of doing here and there I have to say I am not doing them. I have done a ton of this and that so I, too, am procrastinating virtuously. Soon I will turn to my old reliable and schedule a time to do each project where I am not allowed to do anything other than that project. During that time I will offer my inner two year a choice between 1)being cognitively "sent to her room" for being noisy -or- 2) getting a "sweetie" later for being quiet.

{Please note...Big projects are the meat and potatoes of my performance reviews at work soooooo....doing them is a good thing too.}

[lynnal.livejournal.com]

Have you had an honest-to-goodness day off anytime recently? I ask because I strongly resemble your description of doing virtuous things to avoid doing other things. I am also picking up things to read to avoid doing work, no virtue points involved.

I hurt my knee biking this weekend and was actually relieved to have a good excuse for not going to NADWCon on Sunday. I limped around the house and did a few useful things, but mostly I had an actual reason to hold still and put my feet up. It was wonderful to let go of my to-do list for a day. If your June was similar to my June, perhaps you might benefit from the same respite (without the injury first).

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

There was a day that was marked on the calendar as "Mris REST day." I think there might be a benefit to another of those one of these weeks. Marking out work days on which I cannot be socially disturbed is a good thing, but not really restful per se.

[bad-latin.livejournal.com]

I, too, am tickled greatly by the term "donwannas." I think that's my default state, sad to say.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hear you.

I am very, very good at avoiding making jewelry (though I do meet my deadlines- sadly, just barely, often, but made) in favor of mostly cooking something intriguing.

I am now trying to be much more disciplined... but it's really hard.