Woo Woo

By Pauline Evanosky

Sometimes, I think, it is difficult to feel balanced. I refer to the times we live in as being dangerous, fraught with worry, and for the most part depressing as all get out. But if you think about it, the times when others lived would likely have been the same.

How do you change a sense of anxiousness to a more serene existence? I think you must make an effort to do so. This is about balance.

Imagine if you lived before the telegraph was widely used in the 1840s. The only news you got was from travelers. It was likely that news would be old by the time you learned of it. I think people who lived then would not have felt the same onslaught we feel as we hear bad news so much of the time. Now, I think that takes a toll on a person.

What if you were to limit the time that you expose yourself to any sort of news? There is not much good that is on the news these days. What if we were to turn our phones off for part of the day? Jobs encroach upon people’s free time. Perhaps the co-worker or boss who is emailing you or calling you is thinking, “Oh, while I’m thinking of it I will send this request and they can think about it tomorrow while they are working.” The person receiving the call will take the energy to read or listen to your message at 8:30 pm Saturday night. Then, they are going to go to bed and at 2:00 am will awaken to think about it some more. There, you’ve managed to disrupt their sleep. So, not nice behavior as far as I am concerned. What can a person do against this sort of commonly accepted activity?

Turn their phones off and do not look at any texts or emails that come in during the times they are not working. Just do it. Granted, to get ahead you’ve got to lower all the barriers to a private life and invite anybody and everybody to rob you of the time you want to use to do something, but why? For what? Just turn your phones off, don’t look at news on the Internet, and do something else?

Do what? Everybody has something other than work to do. Or, you should. What long-lost dream have you stopped thinking about? Work has a place in your day. Dreams should have the same standing and get the same respect. If you work 8 hours in a day, you could devote 6 hours to your dreams. Then, you’ve got 10 hours to sleep and for chores. Can you carve some time out of your day to pay attention to your dreams?

I should think you could. I found many years ago that if I wanted to write while I was working a good time to do that would be to awaken at 3 or 4 am. Then, I could have 2 or 3 hours before work to spend time on something that was much closer to my heart than work was. Work paid the bills, so yes, it was important. But I did not have to allow it to be present at other times.

This is not to say that I was completely successful in stopping my mind from thinking about work-related issues at times when I was not getting paid. Sometimes, the answers to thorny problems would come to me in the dead of night just because I was calm enough to let them through.

But you get the idea. If you schedule a doctor’s appointment you will be there. If you are going to get your hair done you will plan on spending an hour or so at the salon or barbershop. You already go to work. Plan on spending some time on your dreams.

I’m not telling you what your dreams are. Imagine when you retire. Lots of people include being able to retire and live comfortably when they are young. Others do not. Imagine what you would like to do when you are retired.

Now, imagine you will paint, work on cars, carve, draw, sew, crochet, or volunteer your time somewhere. Think about those dreams. Would you like to sing? Now’s the time to get a voice coach or learn how to read music. Do you want to write? Learn how. You need to read a lot too. That all takes time. Include those activities in your dreams.

And utilize the Internet. As the years have gone on there are more and more people who have offered to teach folks all sorts of things online via YouTube.com. Not all of them cost money. In fact, you could probably learn a lot of basic stuff from free sites and then, if you want to get certified in these dreams pay some money.

Here are a few resources I already use.

Google.com is your friend. You can find out what that funny spot on your shoulder might be to a recipe for meatloaf surprise or the steps necessary to start selling the stuff you make on Etsy.com

YouTube.com for pretty much any subject under the sun. Reddit.com for community and other people interested in subjects you are interested in.

Khanacademy.com The founder Sal Khan wanted to help his niece with some math homework. What evolved has become a collection of more than 6,500 videos on all sorts of subjects. None of that costs anything. Time Magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. So, this is worth checking out no matter how old you are. I am currently taking an Algebra 1 course on KhanAcademy.

Canva.com This is an online website that helps you create signs, Facebook posts, or whatever you want to have that has pictures in it. There is the basic free membership and a pro version that costs. There is a bit of a learning curve, but again, tons of videos on Youtube.com to get you up to speed, and if you eventually use the designs to decorate a webpage or to make flyers for groups you belong to it is worth it. The paid version is $120 a year for 5 people.

Udemy.com I wait for their sales and stock up on courses to take. Any subject under the sun almost. It is just tantalizing to take a course that normally costs $250 and only pay $9.99 for it. Take a look to see what is available, get on their mailing list and wait for a sale.

Edx.com for University courses. Yes, you can take university-level courses for free. They might start on specified dates, so do check them out.