Friday, October 19, 2007

An hour a week

Around a year ago I read an issue of Time magazine that had a breakdown of the average American's leisure time. The first, and most predictably was television. There were other electronic distractions vying for time. Sex was a single digit %, and equated to about an hour a week. A 168th of the week, for something so enjoyable?

I have to say, I was flabbergasted. I live outside the US, so I have an incomplete and incorrect view of the country. TV, films, news articles, internet comments, etc., etc., etc. have led me to believe if people weren't watching TV they would be having sex. There are ~300 million Americans, at some point it was popular! When you combine all the pressures of life together, it is easy to see how it can be shoved to the bottom of the pile.

Anyway, in the last few weeks, I've been thinking. Thinking about the fast approaching, heavily clichéd fork in the road. I finish my degree soon and begin to work. If I move out of home, the murderous housing and cost of living here will guarantee I am staying here for a long time. If I stick it out, I can follow one of my few goals and move across the globe.

This got me thinking more, what am I going to do there? The two places are basically the same, the work I will do is the same, aside from the different location, it's all much the same. Much like using the word same three times in a sentence.

That's when that little titbit from Time flicked through my head. I'm going to live the reverse of that list. I've decided that I don't do enough risky things, and all the things I do actually do are too planned and carefully thought out. This has led to a considerable comfort zone. Which I hope to limit.

2 comments:

Joanna Cake said...

LOL, I wonder if the sex statistic is any different wherever you go in the world...
So the fork in the road is actually the difference between being spontaneous and being predictable? Im not so sure. Having money gives you the means to be spontaneous, having none gives you the time...

Wanklogger said...

Sorry for the huge delay, things have been pretty busy as of late. I guess the fork is staying where I am and settling into life here - which isn't really what I want to do.

Wanting to move to the other side of the world, I think will give me a big enough push to radically change a lot of things.