Friday, April 1, 2011

Span(gles) of Attention

I joke about having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) a lot, yet I know it's not a deficit at all -- in fact, it's the opposite, more of a plethora of attention. And I'd prefer it to be called a theory rather than a disorder, but, I suppose chaos theory would be too much, right?

So, here I am with Attention Plethora disorder, thinking about all my interests which are legion. I write, not always well, but I like to consider myself a "writer," I garden, I make jewelry, I sew (sort of). My interests are varied. Ah, Varied Attention Plethora Disorder.

I'm thinking lots of creative (and I hate to lump myself in with that moniker, only because I would never say, "I'm a creative type." But, what are you gonna do?)folk have lots of other creative interests and maybe get waylaid by them.

Sometimes I dream of having all my interests surrounding me in a tangable way. I could leave out all my notes on what I'm writing, I could have all my beads and wire and detritus of collagable materials out, I could line up all my seeds and sketch a pattern for my garden...

As it stands, my interests get in the way of each other, vying for my attention. If I decide to leave one for the other, I first have to pack-up all signs of one and then unpack what I need for the other. Half my day is spent with this. That's not a part of my disorder -- that's my husband's disorder:all is good and right with the world when I don't see crap all over. Kind of a mouthful, but I try to help him with it by not leaving crap all over. He tries to help me with mine by saying, "Can't you concentrate on one thing at a time?"

Err, no.

I'm still left with:

Varied
Attention
Plethora
Interest
Disorder

VAPID...Oh, that's why I look like I'm staring off into space without a though in my head. D'oh!

What are your varied interests and how do you balance them?

3 comments:

  1. That's a lot of interests! And yes, it's always good to think of yourself as 'a writer' because if you write, then you are :)

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  2. I love calling it Attention Plethora Disorder! It should be "Deficiency" anyway, not "Deficit," shouldn't it? I agree. The more interests the better. I love the Robert Louis Stevenson verse, "The world is so full of a number of things/I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."

    Now I'm going to plant some roses...

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  3. Yeah D U, I didn't put all my interests/hobbies etc. down -- I have more!

    Thanks, Anne! I think the more interests I have the more excited I am with life.

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