Hi Danny,
I have often thought about the way time seems to fly as I get older. Recently I saw a program on PBS about Einstein. He said time can slow down, but I think you have to be moving really fast, like the speed of light, so I guess I'll just have to live with things the way they are. I have also been wondering if it is too late to try a new "career". Has too much time passed to be effective at something new? I think, not necessarily. I think it depends on the new direction and my physical and mental abilities. I look forward to hearing about your new project.

Danny, do the "motorcycle thing" right NOW! I waited till I was 45 and regret all those days I didn't get to ride.

Get a bike! You can strap a sketchbook on and have a perfect day!

You have hit the nail on the head.
"a gallon of ambition and my pint glass of life" is truly my struggle and angst tied up in a nifty little phrase.
There is so much I want to do! I've got dreams, ideas, hopes, desires. and I've got to fit it into the miniscule minutes of me time each day. No wonder I'm feeling like a loser that I haven't written that book, had that Private Art Show, painted that new series that's been in my sketcbook for 5 years, and dare I say, weeded the garden.
I sometimes feel like I'm actually BURSTING with creativity and have to squash it into an hour or two between work, dinner, husband and child, chores and business.
I need another me that I can send to the office and to the grocery store.

Can't wait to see what this is. Also looking forward to the Open Center class!

LOVE this: 'my gallon of ambition and my pint glass of life.' You took the words right out of my mouth--or, at least, you would have, had I been clever enough to have thought of them first. Good luck with your gallon and your plans!

Can't wait! My appetite is well and truly whetted....

Dear Danny,

My mom died last year at the age of 96, and I'm well past half that, but the thoughts you describe just hit me like a ton of bricks last year. I realized I will probably NOT fulfill some of my fondest wishes/dreams before I'm too old and decrepit to enjoy them -- kayaking around the circumference of Lake Superior, for example; or building a cabin in British Columbia. I'm wondering if I'll ever even find time to read Proust (yeah, that's on my list too) or even just paint every wildflower blooming in my back yard between March and November. Those calendar pages fly off the wall faster every year. Nonetheless, I have to say I'm grateful to be one of those people whose to-do list will always have more on it than can ever be accomplished -- think of the alternative!
I'll be looking forward to hearing about your new project, and if you've figured out a method of making at least one thing on the priority list happen every day, please share it. Meanwhile may your dreams ever exceed your grasp and always keep you awake and excited about what the next day will hold!

Your post reminded me of a quote that came in today's emails:
"I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well."
– Diane Ackerman
A finite life span can be an energizing factor!

Except for the heavyweight boxing title part, you just wrote exactly what was in my brain too.

Can't wait to learn more about your project!

the further along the road I get, the faster the pages fly off the calendar== another way I've seen it put: Life is like a roll of toilet paper -- the closer yoi get to the end, the faster it goes.

yay you. I'm in that gallon jug of enthusiasm with you, Danny. Me too on the Me Time. Can't wait.

Danny, I get it. And, way too much. It is almost paralyzing. Glad you expressed IT, though.
Sometimes wonder if people think too much, or have OCD.
When in a 'settled' mood, I think back, or look at artwork done. Pretty amazing, actually.
I have one of your many books, so maybe think back, or keep writing them. Of course, the latter is best if enjoying that. Keep traveling, if possible...

Ah, your comment made me 1smile. When to have enough time indeed. I recently thought many of those same thoughts while contemplating my upcoming 60th birthday (when did that happen). Don't think too much, enjoy everyday (everyday is a vacation if you let it)and make plans. I am hiking again and on my 60th birthday will be hiking the Inca Trail in Peru. Who knows maybe I will live to be as old as my grandmother (101..bless her). At least I will have some great stories. Enjoy!

They say money doesn't matter, but I have so many things I'd like to do, but very little money to achieve them. Money does matter. I think if you were wealthy enough to not have to work, you'd find plenty of time to achieve everything you have on your list. Unfortunately, most of us work, which cuts the time. And if you have to work, that cuts out many things you could do if you had the funding.

I also believe people have less time, because the amount of work they are doing is more and that leaves less time to accomplish anything. Most people are exhausted after work and family obligations.

Oh...now THIS I have to find out more about! I'm struggling with this myself. The too much to do and too little time can be paralyzing - and anxiety producting.

These days I find myself inventing up with ways to multitask when it comes to my personal interests. Combining language-learning and art or craft can be quite fruitful, especially as sketching or doodling while I listen seems to reinforce what I've heard. I probably attempted a little too much the time I listened to a French-language podcast about knitting whilst cooking from a recipe written in Spanish, but I figure I can't know my limits unless I test them!

I'd have suggested you get one of those Italian language courses you can listen to while you sleep, but since you're an insomniac ...

Scratch the Proust project and you'll gain years of valuable time. I recommend reading Alain de Botton's "How Proust Can Change Your Life". An enjoyable read, which I felt freed me from the obligation of ever having to read Proust.

The new project sounds intriguing!

It must be a Friday kind of thought because last Friday I was thinking the same thing when I wrote this post.

Flighty
Friday, October 17, 2008

Like these birds, who could not seem rest for more than a minute or two, I feel flighty and unsettled. I watched them yesterday as they duplicated the same pattern over and over. Back and forth they went, flying across the same piece of ground never going more than a few feet from where they started before going back to the beginning. Appearing as if they were assembling for a grand take off on an important journey, they would lift off in mass with a great flap of wings only to fly around for a minute and go back and start over.

As the seasons change, I feel a sense of anxiety to get certain things done. None come easily and all require a fair amount of self education. I struggle with the need for perfection and I�m never quite satisfied with my writing, my photography, or the pace at which I allow myself to develop. It�s about fear really, fear that there won�t be enough time to do everything before the seasons change, both literally and metaphorically and I am out of time.

Today, while my head is filled with flighty unsettled thoughts, my spirit, like the birds going back and forth, is struggling to stay focused and serene. Instinctually, like the birds, I know the direction of my journey. Lord knows, I�ve been working out flight plans in my mind for years. Today, I resolve to just be grateful for motion, even if it�s scattered, and tomorrow, well, maybe tomorrow will be a day filled with full flight.