I mentioned before that I don’t make NY’s resolutions……but I do tend to be more contemplative than usual at the start of a new year. I’ve decided I need to reduce my blog reading for a while. I currently have Technorati, Bloglines and Google-Reader to keep up with the blogs I like to read but it’s getting overwhelming so I think I’ll close the Bloglines and just utilize Google-Reader. I don’t really use Technorati so it doesn’t really count. I want to spend more time book reading this year. I just finished Sandrine’s Letter to Tomorrow (I recommend it) and have again picked up Heart Like Water, which I can only take in small doses. I don’t know why….it’s a great book. Well, I do know why but nevermind. Don’t let that keep you from reading it – it’s great.
Crabapple Lane’s December 31 post is so in sync with a subject I’ve been thinking about for a while: time. He begins like this:
As time winds down on another year, I once again find myself pondering the expression, “don’t have the time” and its brother, “can’t find the time”.
And this paragraph struck me particularly:
“Where age or deadline is not a factor, is it really true when someone says that? If so, wouldn’t the person you’re telling it to know it? There are 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, etc, etc… (If you get less than that, you’re exempt from these foolish thoughts). So, what you’re really saying is, “I don’t wish to use my time that way”. To say it that way, of course, is kind of rude so we say, “I don’t have the time” instead. ”
I’ve been on the receiving and giving end of “don’t have time” or “I’m so busy”…..being on the receiving end sucks because you do feel sometimes as if you’re imposing *again* and being on the giving end sucks because you feel guilty. Guilty because you know if it was *really* important enough, you’d find the time.
So. This isn’t a resolution but an “endeavor”. I will endeavor to spread my time around better from now on. If I think it, I will endeavor to do it. That includes most especially calling family more often. I have a bit of a phone phobia, I’m told. 
That includes spending more time with my girlfriends. That includes listening better.
On the other end, I will endeavor not to take it personally when someone says they’re busy or don’t have time for me. I will endeavor to remind myself that I am not the center of the universe and people are, well, busy. 
And I will whistle along my way!
Hmmm……this post isn’t turning out quite as I’d planned. I want to post some links to blogs I read and why. Obviously Crabapple Lane is one I read often. It’s a blog about life in Bush, LA with beautiful photography, it’s about sports, it’s about movies, music, nature and various and sundry other things. He always has a beautiful photo of Crabapple Lane on Sundays and I look forward to it every week. His Flickr site is great too……here’s an example of one of my favorite photo’s of his:
That was taken at City Park in November. Isn’t it gorgeous?
I intended to link to and talk about several blogs but now it’s 5:30 and I need to start dinner…….I’m just sooooo busy!
Oh what a gorgeous photo! I could sit there for hours.
I know what you mean about cutting back. I’ve got blogs (and their owners) that I love, but I’m spending less time per week on here.
Hope your ‘08 is off to a wonderful start.
By: Lisa on January 3, 2008
at 8:13 pm
Well that’s good to hear. Maybe we will see you more often.
By: Anits Pat on January 4, 2008
at 4:20 pm
I really like the passage that you quoted, it’s one of those truths that everyone is aware of and yet because we feel both guilty and embarrassed, as you wrote, for asking and for giving that excuse on occasion knowing full well it is a choice to prioritize our time otherwise and thus it becomes acceptable.
By: Autumn Storm on January 4, 2008
at 5:54 pm
I’ve been fighting with time my whole life, even since I realized it’s a manmade construct…there it is. Practicing getting along outside of time has been an endeavor for several years. More practicing required. I totally understand about the blog thing – it can get overwhelming after a while!
By: tammy vitale on January 5, 2008
at 5:11 pm
Thanks, TM, for the kind words. Although that post has been updated every year since I started blogging and I intended it to be tongue-in-cheek, it is also a reminder to myself what it means when someone says that to me and, more importantly, when I say it to someone. I “endeavor” to do better every year. I succeed and fail at it about equally but I’m expecting substantial improvement in 2008.
That was such a gorgeous day at City Park that I could have stayed there all day. Alas, I only had a few minutes.
By: Rob on January 6, 2008
at 12:50 pm