A Writer’s Log – Post Zero : How we Spend our Days

Annie Dillard said, ‘How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.’

I don’t know about you, but there is always a marked difference between how I would like my day to go, and how it actually goes.

First, the ideal: three hours of writing, two hours of reading, one hour of email-checking. The rest? Socialize with family. Sleep for eight hours. Repeat. (I am trying to add exercise to this, but first things first.)

Now the real: Hours of random browsing, on the Internet in general and on Facebook in particular. Conversations that I wouldn’t have missed if they had not happened. Lots of ‘shallow’ activities which melt away without a trace.

Result: Guilt, shame and emptiness at the end of the day, with a promise to self that I will do better tomorrow.

Except that tomorrow never comes. Or hasn’t been coming all that often over the last couple of months.

So I decided to take Annie’s (Ms Dillard’s, if you prefer) words to heart. If I am serious about living a certain kind of life, I have to get equally serious about living it every single day.

So I am starting a daily blog that records my writing, reading and family activities. If and when I start exercising, I will include that too.

Why make this public? A couple of reasons.

One: it makes me feel a little more accountable than if I was writing into a private notebook.

Two: I am guessing that I am not the only person out there struggling to close this gap between what we want to do and what we do. Maybe reading about my day will help you with yours.

Let’s go. Post 1 coming up tonight.