Recharging Or Procrastinating?

Last week's statue-hunt was a lot of fun. Putting a camera between you and the world is a rather effective way of allowing yourself to focus only on certain details, and shut out the rest. I also spent time in front of the computer, trying to arrange, rearrange and edit pictures. Most of the functions in the photo editing programs are still "Greek" to me, though. (That is, I recognize a word here or there, but I can't use enough of them together to make any sense of it!)

This week, the theme at Soaring... is "silly critters". Unfortunately, live animals are a lot harder to chase than statues...

So "reality" is beginning to creep up on me again. There still remains a lot to do and deal with, related to the death of my mother. Estate inventory and what not. Since I filed the tax returns for both of my parents a few months ago, it might not be too complicated, once I get round to it. I've just been feeling very tired and in need of "recharging my battieries" before dealing with more phone calls and paperwork and meetings. (I do intend to get professional help sorting out the details.)

So last week I took a deliberate sort of a break (without really going away). This week I intended to "get back to business"; only to find that I'm becoming quite an expert at procrastination...

When I have something important to do, first of all I need to have things tidy around me, or else I can't concentrate. So that's usually my starting point. But often, while tidying up - shuffling papers around etc - you find something else that for some reason or other you feel you had perhaps also better do something about before you start with that other thing that you originally intended to do... And then when you've finished with that, you suddenly find you inner batteries discharged again, and you have to go and lie down for a rest, or take a walk, or have a meal, before you do anything else. And of course, all of these are tiring activites in their own way. (Yes, even lying down for a rest! Because sometimes you fall asleep and stay that way a good deal longer than you had in mind...)

Monday morning, I did make a good start at shuffling papers, but my thoughts were really still on photography. Among the stacks of papers were some envelopes with photo prints that I intend to put into albums. Putting these in order made me remember that there were some prints missing, that I had "borrowed" from these envelopes for other purposes, and that needed to be replaced. So then - "while I remember" - I started to experiment with printing photos from my new printer. Which of course was a lot more fun than tax return forms. Before I knew it, it was time for lunch, and a rest, and a walk...

I also got a letter from a friend recently, in which she told me she had rearranged photos on her notice board, to rid herself of some negative energy - i.e. had removed pictures of certain people, the sight of whom only reminded her of trouble right now. This in turn reminded me that I had not even put my board up since I moved (last year!); partly because I couldn't find a good place for it, partly because a lot of the photos were so old that they represented "the past" rather than my present circle of friends. (Babies on those photos now having reached their teens, and teenagers having grown up into adults, etc. For some reason, after a certain age, people stop taking family pictures to send to their friends at Christmas; and so remain forever young.)

Inspired by my friend's letter, and the excellent photo print quality of my new machine, I put other things aside again to search my computer for more recent photos of friends and family. Then having found some, and printed them out, I had to go into town to find an alternative to my old photo board, and maybe some frames. And thinking of frames, why not bring that drawing that a friend in Germany sent me for Christmas, and have that framed, too...

Instead of a notice board, I found a sort of metallic strip to which one can attach photos with magnets. Looks kind of cool, and doesn't take up much wall space. But of course it still took some time to find the right place for it. And rearrange other stuff around it. And put up the photos. And move those around to find the best positions...

And then blog about the whole thing...

Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Shuffling papers... Oh well. Tomorrow is another day...