A glimpse into my schedule, a shot in the head:
Lots of people ask how I get all my spinning done with 2 lil'uns running amok, all home-schooled and free-spirited. It's easy, my children are very dirty, like monstrously dirty. Dirty faces, filthy clothes, hair like rats nests, it's shameful, really. All the time that people usually spend cleaning their children, teaching them good hygiene, I use it to spin.
Heh. Okay, if you know me, you know that's not totally true, though LB is often known to bellow from the shared bedroom I don't have any *skivs or I'm out of socks again, but mostly we're pretty clean, and if we're not, at least our outer layer of clothes covers up the dirty skivs and socks. How I really get it done is that I work each day from 8am to noon (except thursday and friday when I work from 1pm to 5pm). I also work at night after everyone is in bed, but that's usually felting, dyeing, designing, knitting etc. not actual spinning.
Those 4 hours are my studio time and everyone is pretty good about not interrupting. Occasionally SP will need some nursing time, or LB will need me to untie his knot practicing rope, but generally it's just me, up here, carding, treadling, skeining, and watching/listening. Herein lies the problem, I think, with my headpace, or lack of headspace. Or at least part of the problem. Spinning used to be this solitary, silent, thoughtful time for me and lately I bombard myself with media while I spin. I watch netflix, I listen to books on CD, I divert my mind, never giving it a moment of peace.
I've been feeling a bit scattered, lost in myself, crammed up, jammed up, short tempered, lacking patience, tapped. I don't know if the 2 things are connected, this crammed feeling and the media jacked into my brain, but I'm guessing that if one isn't the cause of the other, one could at least start to alleviate the other.
So I'm starting slowly and for every 4 hours chunk of time that I spin I'll have silence for 30 minutes of it.
I know 30 minutes may sound like nothing but I can't go cold turkey, and I wouldn't want to. I enjoy the books, the netflix, but I don't think it's good to never have a moment of thoughtful peace, quiet, meditation. So here begins the space in my head experiment. We'll see if 30 minutes of no input is able to carve out a little niche in my mind, loosen thing up in there, give things a little more space to move around, mingle, meet other parts of my brain that been to tightly packed for too long. Who knows, I might come out of this with the patience of a Saint and some awesomely creative yarn!
*unders, underwear, skivvies, drawers, knicker-knackers, cheesecloth for the twig and berries etc.
Ahh... quiet. In today's world it's so much easier to bombard yourself with media like that. You couldn't easily read a book while spinning, but now that there are TVs, MP3 players, etc. it's no problem. Since getting my iPod, I can't think of a time when I walk somewhere by myself more than a couple minutes without it.
Posted by: Jason at April 5, 2008 09:18 AMWhenever I crave to be on vacation, I stop and think about what it is I really love the best about it, and I realize that the theme is lack of media input. Very little or no internet, very little or no tv, and no music unless it's the Clancy Brothers on my mp3 player. It's not really being somewhere else, it's the lack of stuff going into my head that makes me feel more at ease. So I think you are right on with recognizing that you must be needing more quiet time.
I also read an article recently (I tried unsuccessfully to find it for you) about sleep, and it studied a group of people who spent time with media-- online, watching tv, texting, etc., vs. a group of people who had quiet time before bed. The people who spent time with media in put in the evening reported feeling like they were getting less/not enough sleep at night. The other group reported being well rested. The kicker is that they were all actually getting the same amount of sleep--the ones who watched more tv or spent more time texting or online just felt less rested. That's a pretty clear message, eh?
Posted by: Joni at April 5, 2008 10:17 AMOh man...maybe its contagious. I've been feeling the same way. Driving the bus,doing hair,tending the kids, then the just say no club,horseback riding and soccer for the 9 year old, the oldest needs all that "I'm almost 18" doctors appointments, eyeglasses, and teethcleaning...only two more oppoutunities left on his current insurance. Getting the now 5 year old ready for school. I just feel like I'm in overload. I haven't been able to relax. It honestly scares me. Time for me?Silence? What the heck is that woman????:) My God, my laundry is backed up and I just got off vacation(if you can call it that...I was busy catching up on stuff from mom being in the hospital). I know some of it is I'm still raw from Mom dying, but man oh man! I am definetley twirling. I think I might join into your experiment. I'll let you know how it goes...now if I could just knit something.Without screwing it up.Boy oh boy I'm in deep!LOL!
Posted by: Charlotte at April 5, 2008 10:39 AMhey lovely j.~
i've been thinking about this issue a lot lately, as we're trying to design a studio space that will suit both C and I. i am unable to be distracted by media where i currently spin, but we'll definitely have the stereo set up in the shared studio space. i've thought it would be nice to listen to audio books and have music, but i also know that i really enjoy my quiet, contemplative time in the evenings with my wheel. i thought a possible solution would be burning some of the meditation/trance-y CDs we play at the acupuncture studio...since i tend to need help these days getting into that quiet headspace (if it's too quiet for too long, my brain starts running circles and driving me crazy). And 30 minutes does actually sound like a great place to start...12.5% of your spinning time is a significant chunk!
Ah - quiet. I wish I could have more of it myself and I don't even have any kids to wrassel! I can't wait to see you at Sheep and Wool!
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Posted by: yteusjkf at April 5, 2008 07:03 PMI work about 50 hours a week (mostly with 6-year-olds), volunteer with at least 3 different organizations, keep a small home business, have 2 children (one is gifted, has ADHD and a few other issues and disabilities like OCD). I think there are many, many working moms out there going crazy but keeping it together by balancing things and knowing that basically we're pretty lucky with all we have. I know I'd be lost without my yoga and my partner.
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Posted by: tombagusaapp at April 6, 2008 02:01 PMJust got a new "work from home job" and I really enjoy doing my task without any noise. I thought I was the only one. It really does give some time to think about what has gone on in the day or to not think at all about anything. It is a real pleasure. It is just as rewarding as my knitting and spinning in silence.
Posted by: Tal at April 7, 2008 02:56 PMhey 30 mins can be a god send somedays! enjoy every min that you can get ;-)
Posted by: Krystofer at April 9, 2008 11:33 AMI'll be my child is filthier than yours, as is my house.
Um, I'm not sure I should be proud of this.
My child is also not home-schooled and I still don't get nearly as much done as you do. Apparently I'm slow.
You rock, dirty children and all.
Posted by: Rabbitch at April 9, 2008 07:23 PMcheesecloth, lol!
i have teenage boys, if they're out of those personal items, it's cuz they haven't turned them in!
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