Some people have a hobby or two that they like to indulge in now and then. Others do one thing very well and have fun doing just that. When one enjoys their “thing”, whether a creative outlet or sports related, it’s a go-to activity that gives pleasure in the down time.
Having too many enjoyable pursuits becomes a burden. I am one of those people. As an artist I really need to paint. My favorite medium is oil paint and I paint BIG. What am I painting right now? Nothing. I’m not oil painting, not right now anyway. Right now I’m knitting! And I’m knitting five items at once. And I’m making bead/wire jewelry. And I’m pastel drawing. And I’m sketching with watercolors, which is painting, ok. Did I say I’m knitting?
It’s all a distraction, you see. No, not multi-tasking like people want to call it. I’m working on one thing until I suddenly am very interested in another thing. Then I stop doing the first activity and fluidly move on to the other. No multi-tasking involved. There’s a good excuse for this and it’s not ADD. Since I haven’t used the oil paints in a while first I need to set them up on my palette. This takes time. This takes energy. So I go to the next easy-to-get-to thing which is the pastels. Just open the box of pastels, draw, and clean up the dust, and I’m done! But I have to pull out the boxes from the shelf. As I start for the shelf I see the half done knit socks I’m working on. I head for the knitting. I’m at a juncture in the knitting where I have to count rows and I spy another pair on other needles. I pick them up and knit on them for a few rows. Behind this project is the beading bag full of jewelry goodies. I stop knitting and look through the bag for something I thought of. Do you see where this is going?
Wouldn’t it be smart to get the oil paints out and just do that? Yes, it would be a good thing unless the half knit sock is in the way.
I know the affliction! I like knitting, crocheting, beading etc. I gave it up to focus on the drawing and painting. It’s hard, I have lots of yarn, needles, etc. gathering dust in the closet!
Yes, I have to try to focus on one or two things!