Thoughts From the Fun-Employed - well, at least one of them

You know how some people say "man I'm so bored, what can I do?" 

I call bull! Its been almost 6 months into my fun-employment and I have never been bored yet. Lazy, yes, but never bored. 

I realize now that what I really needed was a good break from my "normal" work mode and I'm forever grateful to whatever influences in my life prompted me to plan ahead enough so that I can actually afford fun-employment without feeling money-pinched.

One of my goals was to write more and that hasn't really happened so I thought I'd start by sharing some random thoughts for now. Some of these maybe obvious but they didn't really hit home for me until now. 

Time Warp    "I have all this time to ..." this is what I thought when I first started this adventure. It turns out that the time I would have spent in the office is easily spent lounging around getting ready in the morning, cooking for myself, reading articles that I've been meaning to read and finishing projects that I've been meaning to start. Basically, my sense of time got warped somehow. My day is still as full as ever even though I don't have a 9-5 job and this list of things to do now that I have time just keeps growing at a faster rate then I can check things off. The good news is, I'll never be bored! 

Its a beautiful feeling to know that I don't HAVE to do anything.  I'm not sure when in my life, I started to feel that things had to be done "or else." Can I just say - its liberating (and a little scary) to be unbounded. I love it!

Time to appreciate the little things.  Its quite something to be able to just sit down and enjoy time in the sun with a good book and not have to worry about some meeting that I have to go to or some deadline I have to meet or someone at work thinking that I'm a slacker for taking a break to chill out. I've finally been able to clear out some junk that's been sitting around in my apartment for years!  

Time to stew on things.  This is the flip side of being able to appreciate the small things. There's so much time that you can start to stew on things that need to just be left alone. Its a great exercise for letting go of things that aren't under my control.

Daydreaming - a lost art.  Oh, its been a blast to just sit and think about all the different things I can dream about and plan to do with no pressure other than the satisfaction of being able to think about possibilities and then make them happen.

Finding Kindred Spirits.  I'm not sure why, but it turns out there are lots of people in the same boat as I am in: "fun-employed" and looking to start something else besides that 9 to 5 pay-the-bills kind of job. Having this time off has helped me to find these kindred spirits. I've also been spending time getting to know some of my acquaintances a little more and developing the  friendships that have been "waiting till I had more time".

Seeing the signs.  I truly believe that if you're on the path that you're meant to be, life will keep sending you signs to tell you that you're on the right path. The signs are everywhere if you're open to seeing them. (Read The Alchemist by Paul Coelho) Most of us are too busy to see what is standing right in front of us. For me these past few months, opportunities to work on projects and meet people have fallen into place better than if I were planning to do them. I've been able to work on things that I wouldn't have imagined I'd be working on.