Thoughts From The Dome

Numerous thoughts have been running through this dome of mine in the last couple of days. I'm hoping I can get them to march into this text in some semblance of order for you all to understand. 

Right before getting on-line to start typing this post I was reading World Aflame by Billy Graham. I am only on the thirty-first page and so far have gleaned a tremendous amount of insight from this book. The last section I read was entitled Leisure. Most often leisure is talked of in pleasant terms but the intent of this two-page talk on leisure was to warn of its dangers. 

Billy Graham has pointed out that modern American life with its many technological advances has produced an abundance of leisure time. "With more leisure and less responsibility, the problem of 'what to do' assumes major proportions... The rapid growth of leisure could produce more crime... We see this potential of crime already among us in the vandalism of unoccupied youth. We see it in the cocktail lounges where the bored and restless while away the tedious hours of leisure. We see it in the nightclubs where jaded and frustrated businessmen watch sensual performers go through their frenzied routines, leaving their audiences empty, frustrated, and satiated. All of us have read stories of the boredom suffered at the average cocktail party. I have had more than one wealthy person tell me: 'If I have to go to one more cocktail party, I'll blow my brains out.'" 

To help prove his point that too much leisure can be undesirable, Billy Graham uses this quote from Shakespeare: "If all the years were playing holidays, to sport would be as tedious as to work."

The topic of leisure is of particular interest to myself at this point in my life because it is something that I will have in an exceeding amount for the next couple of months. As many of you know, I am taking a semester off from school because I couldn't get into the classes I needed. What a fitting time to read of the dangers of too much leisure!

You may now wonder what I plan to do with my months of leisure. Assuming that you do care, I will explain my plans, but I warn you they may get overwhelming. Well maybe not to you but in my mind they can sometimes be a bit overwhelming due to me constantly thinking of various options and numerous variations to each option all the while trying to take each plan to the Lord. 

Sometime during the holiday season I began compiling a list that I dubbed "Things I want to do with my 'free time'". The list includes things that absolutely need to be done such as applying for and securing an internship for this summer as well as things that I have long wanted to do but have not yet done due to of a lack of time or pure laziness. Unfortunately, I lost my original list and some items have slipped my memory but here is my attempt to patch the list back together:

1. Learn to play the harmonica
2. Read Dead Women Walking
3. Go to Florida
4. Go to Cincinnati and visit Jungle Jim's and Graeter's
5. Create fabric
6. Experiment with Photoshop
7. Experiment with InDesign
8. Experiment with Illustrator
9. Set up an Etsy seller account
10. Finish my Italy scrapbook
11. Make Coca-Cola table
12. Create an identity for Phenomenal Women 
13. Polish up portfolio
14. Secure an internship for the summer
15. Make salmagundi 
16. Ride the Indy Go
17. Go to as many BSF seminars as possible
18. Visit as many historical sites as possible (primarily in Indiana)

There you have my patched up list. I know there are many more worthy items on my original list and it is frustrating me that I cannot find it. Nonetheless, I have plenty of things to do with my months of leisure. However, in the past couple of weeks I have noticed myself developing a lackadaisical attitude. I have placed no demands on my schedule and I have to admit that I have enjoyed too much sleep, TV, browsing the internet, running pointless errands, etc. 

I have a few ideas of how I can correct this behavior but since this post has possibly put some of you to sleep already, I'll save those ideas and hopefully an optimistic progress report for another time.