Reflections on time

At the moment, my time feels quite pressured, with work four days a week, which itself is time-pressured, intense and stressful, domestic duties, like washing, shopping and cooking, taking kids to activities in the evenings and weekends, all the sorting out we have had to do about Mum’s house, then trying to squeeze in my course work: research, practical work, looking, thinking, researching, writing.

The downside is that I don’t feel I have enough time to do the practical experimentation with different techniques and subject matter; the upside is that I can still be thinking about aspects of the course while I am doing something else, and can sneak some me-time into those activities, like drawing the figures I see on the ice while watching my daughter’s ice-skating lesson.

When I do have time to do something ‘for me’ it feels really precious, having limited time means I have to work quickly, which could lead me down a certain stylistic route and towards using ‘quick’ techniques, so I will just have to see what it brings.

It also makes me think about the best way of using my time. Sometimes, what seems like a passive activity, such as blogging or researching, is just as good a use of time as the more active, such as the creative acts of doing, making and recording.

Having limited time is better than having no time at all, however.