For me, the best metaphor for life is spheres. There are many things that have to be working right for me to consider life satisfactory, and most of them overlap. One or two of them being not entirely positive is okay, but all of them being less than 50% cool is not. One of them being really really *off* is bad, and more than that is comparatively bad, etc. Oh, hell, here's a chart: http://www.kiai.org/catness/kitsworld.jpg
My big spheres are:
- home - music - money (finance/security) - work - love - health
Home has to be peaceful, non-angering, and comfortable for me - I have to not hate how it looks or feels. Music has to be happening, positive, and I have to be learning and improving constantly. Money has to be non-worrying and in the black, work has to be something I can contribute to well and be not-constantly-stressful, love has to be even-keel and add more to my life than it subtracts.
The newest (and most surprising) addition to my visualization is "rest/downtime". Since health is a big negative for me right now, rest has risen right out of obscurity into super importance. Also, I find that if I don't prioritize it, I never get any.
When I look at my major happy-making spheres of influence, I realize they're probably skewed from most folks. I suspect others might drop something like "music" and add something like "friends" or "fun", but I think I probably get enough out of music and/or work to not count those as Major Spheres. Music isn't a hobby for me; it's pretty much the most important thing in my life, so if I leave it out of any satisfaction formula it feels to me like leaving liquid out of the primary needs list. (And that sounds pretty extremist and dumb, but there it is.)
Right now most of my spheres are hovering around 60% okay, which is significantly better than 2 years ago, but is still not really ideal. I'm working on some things to ease home, work, money, and love issues, and music is probably inching upwards with or without me having to take Other Than Normal steps. However, health is fucking with me so severely on physical and emotional levels that nothing else can really compensate.
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branchandroot
I got yer rockets right here, baybee...
Date: 2007-09-08 08:52 pm (UTC)My big spheres are:
- home
- music
- money (finance/security)
- work
- love
- health
Home has to be peaceful, non-angering, and comfortable for me - I have to not hate how it looks or feels. Music has to be happening, positive, and I have to be learning and improving constantly. Money has to be non-worrying and in the black, work has to be something I can contribute to well and be not-constantly-stressful, love has to be even-keel and add more to my life than it subtracts.
The newest (and most surprising) addition to my visualization is "rest/downtime". Since health is a big negative for me right now, rest has risen right out of obscurity into super importance. Also, I find that if I don't prioritize it, I never get any.
When I look at my major happy-making spheres of influence, I realize they're probably skewed from most folks. I suspect others might drop something like "music" and add something like "friends" or "fun", but I think I probably get enough out of music and/or work to not count those as Major Spheres. Music isn't a hobby for me; it's pretty much the most important thing in my life, so if I leave it out of any satisfaction formula it feels to me like leaving liquid out of the primary needs list. (And that sounds pretty extremist and dumb, but there it is.)
Right now most of my spheres are hovering around 60% okay, which is significantly better than 2 years ago, but is still not really ideal. I'm working on some things to ease home, work, money, and love issues, and music is probably inching upwards with or without me having to take Other Than Normal steps. However, health is fucking with me so severely on physical and emotional levels that nothing else can really compensate.
*rereads the above*
Criminy. I need a hobby.