There is ALWAYS a choice – how you use the time you have is up to you.
Before life was turned upside-down for pretty much everyone, what I was doing wasn’t all that different. I was doing freelance work in an office away from home almost daily and attending fencing practices a couple times a week. Apart from that, however, I worked from my home office doing my writing projects and such.
Now there is no fencing practice in order to maintain social distancing. We are not using the office because it’s better to stay home.
For a lot of people, however, they were at work 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week. Their kids were at school for much of that, too. Now it’s all different – and for how long it will be like this nobody can say.
Some people are working from home; many have been furloughed, laid-off (temporarily or permanently) or given reduced work hours; whatever the case may be their time every day is playing out very differently.
How do you use your time? Your answer is going to be unique to you, your life, your family, and your overall experiences. However, just to make things even more complicated, a lot of you, I know, are also combatting depression, anxiety, and fear in this new reality.
Who created this timeline?
It really does feel like somewhere, not so long ago, someone from the future came back and screwed everything up. The progressive, forward-moving timeline we were on shifted to this new, alternative and bizarre reality.
Let’s face it – between even screwier than normal politics, reactionary forces feeling empowered, and an invisible faceless virus opening the fear floodgates – this reality sucks. I don’t know about you, but I sure as hell liked the timeline of about 4 years ago far better than this one.
But that’s so, so far out of our control. You and I can’t change that big picture.
Or can we?
Of course we can. But – and I will bet this won’t surprise you – it starts by us changing ourselves and how we react and act to all that we are experiencing.
Every big picture and major world event starts small. The “Butterfly Effect” is a real thing. (If you are unfamiliar with this concept – the notion is that a butterfly beating its wings in Japan can cause a hurricane in New York. Action-reaction, small inconsequential thing to big matter.)
How you use your time in the here-and-now will ultimately impact the big picture.
What you do is your choice
Many people are having a really hard time with this reality. They are scared, uncertain, confused, and generally prone to give in to negative thoughts and feelings. News media is not helping this because we are bombarded daily by facts and figures of contagion and death. Many of these are projections, estimates, and even guesses.
Oh, and just to confuse you – there are unreliable sources ALSO giving you their “facts,” figures, and unscientific versions of reality for political and power gain.
To cut through the noise – you should practice mindfulness. That means you focus on what YOU are thinking, what and how you are feeling, and the actions you are taking plus the intent behind them. That puts you in the now – and will tell you if your subconscious has been doing the driving.
Why should that matter? Because your subconscious mind lacks the filter to fight the fear and resist the uncertainty that your conscious mind possesses.
Being mindful of yourself also makes you more aware of the world around you. That will help you to help others in the midst of this crisis.
Making use of your time
Admittedly, some people are still doing what they did before. I want to again express my extreme gratitude to everyone still doing jobs putting them at risk while helping others to maintain their comfort. From minimum wage delivery service workers to doctors – thank you for fighting from the front lines.
I am using this time to do my part to help the world at large from two fronts. This is an example of the first – sharing ideas for mindfulness, self-empowerment, and refocusing your attention to the here-and-now.
Let’s face it – the status quo before this hit was, in the words of Doctor Horrible, “Not quo.” This whole situation could serve as a wake-up call.
I am an optimist – I rather hope that it will. Maybe people will see that the way the world has been working is unsustainable and this is the time to open ourselves to change.
That’s my first mission. My second mission is to offer-up distraction via imagination.
To that end, my first sci-fi novel, Book One of The Void Incursion – Opening Gambit – has been completed and is available for pre-sale on Amazon. I am now using my time to get Book Two done for publication in November (to that end, Critical Position is with the editor.)
After a lot of delay, I have returned to Book 3 of The Source Chronicles – Harbinger – to get it edited. My edits are ongoing – but maybe, just maybe, I will finally get it completed.
I am writing articles like this one daily and working on The Void Incursion and other fiction, too.
If, like me, you are an artist I suspect you are using your time much like I am using mine.
Time fretting is a waste
To be blunt – you might not do anything big or bold in this time. It’s entirely possible you will simply go on and keep on keeping on, so to speak. You will work at what you do.
But when it comes to worry, concern, and negativity in this time – you have a choice. Will you use your time to be worried and fearful? My hope is that you won’t – because that only feeds the collective consciousness negatively.
Fact is, we do not need more fear and uncertainty in this world.
Only you can decide what to do with your time. Please be mindful of that and make good choices and decisions. Stay smart, keep your distance, stay safe – but don’t let fear, uncertainty, and negativity dominate your life.
We really are all in this together. How will you use your time during this situation?
Thank you for taking part in my ongoing journey. Thank you for joining me, and for inspiring me and my art.
This is the fifty-third article exploring the creative process. Please take a moment to check out the collection of my published works, which can be found here.
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