Distractions and Excuses

Jun 8, 2018

As I mentioned last week, I have a lot on my plate right now. So, I thought a post on dealing with distractions and making excuses would be appropriate. How do you manage distractions? I have sat down five or six times to write, and even though I have the best of intentions, I don’t see much progress! Being your own boss takes a lot of commitment and routine. If I don’t structure my week, time seems to slip away.

And to make it harder to stay focused, today life seems much busier than it ever was before. The requirements of work and family have always been a balancing act. But since the invention of cell phones and unlimited data plans, it seems like we are always available to anyone who needs our “immediate” attention. As a result, we are continually deluged with distractions.

Camera Time

Finding time with my camera is one aspect of my life that I am not easily distracted from. In fact, my camera often diverts my attention from other things that need to be done! I try to dedicate at least 15 minutes every day, seven days a week, to creating photographs. The images I take may not be street photographs; I might even use my cell phone instead of my camera. And most of these images will never make it off my hard drive. But, I am exercising my shooting muscle. It is far too easy to slip into a rut where a non-shooting day turns into two or three, and before you know it a week or month has disappeared. At this point, you may not even know where your camera is! Photography is just like training for any sport; you must exercise your seeing and shooting muscles regularly.

Not The Excuses!

Usually, I am pretty regimented. I manage my time between photography, writing, teaching and my non-photography related tasks without too much effort. However, you may have noticed that both last week’s, and this post are a few days late. It wasn’t that I was not motivated to write, it was that time just vaporized. There were the little things that crept up unannounced, like the malware that made it onto my computer, and a low oil warning light in my car that needed taking care of. And there was a myriad of other things that got in the way of writing. It also doesn’t help that we are in the middle of a major renovation of our home.

The Distraction

But those distractions aren’t any different from what anyone else experiences on a regular basis and I can’t use them as excuses. That is life. We all need to learn how to set priorities and juggle as required. Occasionally we drop a ball. But you need to pick it up and get back in the game. No, the distractions I spoke of above are not the reason my blog posts didn’t get finished on time. This is! And apologies for the lousy image. He doesn’t stay still very long, and it was all I could do to grab my cell phone.

Aslan

A week and a half ago we got a 14-week old Bengal kitten! Now I don’t want to offend any dog lovers. I love dogs too! But I’m a cat lady, not the kind with 50 cats; we just have one! This little guy is way too cute, and he is well aware of this. And somehow Aslan knows when I need to get work done and he sets out to sabotage my plans. He has the sweetest personality, and how can you say no to that little face! So indulge me while I tell you a bit about our new baby.

Aslan will spend 20 minutes playing fetch with you. Yes, he fetches better than many dogs. He will bring me his mouse and drop it in my lap every time I throw it across the room for him. He also loves the shower! Today I had to make sure I didn’t step on him as he circled my feet and played with the water going down the drain as I shampooed my hair. It turns out he doesn’t like the blow dryer though! He is super soft and loves to snuggle and make bread on your lap. And to top it off, he doesn’t get upset when I get out my camera!

Thanks For Understanding!

So that’s it. Aslan is my excuse for neglecting my writings! Luckily he gave me lots of opportunities to exercise my photography muscles though! Thank you for letting me share a few photos of him with you. I’ll leave you with a few more images from my trip to Victoria a couple of weeks ago. Thanks for reading and cheers until next week.

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