how we spend our moments

Have you ever thought to yourself when reading a blog (like this one), "Hmm, I wonder how long it took to write that post ..." 

Most people don't, I don't think --they just read the content. Maybe it's an informative blog, or maybe it's a humorous blog, or maybe it's a blog about deep thinky thoughts. People gravitate toward the topics covered, and sometimes, the writing style.

There is a concept from economics called opportunity cost. My friend, Mr. Google, tells me opportunity cost is a noun meaning "the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen." Our life is full of alternatives. We fill our time with alternatives.

Reading a blog is one alternative use of time. Writing a blog is another use of time. Both of them occur on computers.

Have you ever thought to yourself when reading a blog (like this one), "Hmm, I wonder how long it took to write that post ...and what else could they have been doing instead with that time?"

Have you ever thought to yourself when reading a blog (like this one), "Hmm, I wonder what's going on around me, beyond the screen ..."

I am beginning to wonder what is going on around me. When writing this blog post, and thinking about other blog posts I have written, I wonder, "What could I notice beyond what's in my head?"

I have been in my head a lot recently. In terms of opportunity cost, what was chosen was the thoughts in my head. Creative endeavors, particularly those that are not group projects, are fundamentally selfish acts, & that's what I chose --creative endeavors. But at what cost?

What did I miss while I was in my head?

It turns out, I missed a lot. My life will be changing soon --is changing now --because of what I missed. That is neither here nor there.

I used to pride myself on having a day job while also writing. It meant I would not be boring and overly writerly --that I would have something unique to share that only come from experiences outside my head (and fundamentally, writers inhabit their heads --there's a lot of ego in writing). I still do think that is a good way to be --having a job outside of writing professionally, but I am seeing that I need to apply this to the rest of my life, too.

I need to look around more. I need to accept and process what is going on around me. It may make my writing better (you know, less boring and overly writerly), but I am certain it will make my life better. I will continue to write to communicate what I notice because that's the way I think about things. 

I know how long it took to write this blog post --while I was doing it, my son requested a glass of milk to counteract wasabi seaweed and is now playing on his iPad. How else could I have spent this time?