Dandelion Break What's Your Present Nemesis?

[Pamela Jo]

Now it's Summer it feels like everything has to be done at once and it's already too late to do it well. These life things interfere with writing. Currently it's haying which is always fraught. And of course bottle feeding a mule foal. An overrun garden and 5 geese who were hired to eat slugs and turns out that is not their chosen diet. They seem to have misunderstood the job brief. They eat grass, process it and then spray the results over everywhere there is not grass. Everyday I start the morning intent on editing or writing and I get the call up the stairs for some new problem to be unlocked. Oh yeah the clutch on the Clio is going too.

What's on your plate keeping you back? Just to run a roll call to commiserate with each other.

 

[AgentPete]

Geese are pretty much vegan It's chickens that eat... crawly things...

 

[LJ Beck]

I'm caught up in a messy drama of a an art group that's been around 51 years, with 100 members. I'm the secretary of the group. We just had the AGM and not enough people stepped up to form a new committee. What's happened since COVID that many people just don't want to do stuff anymore? They don't want to work, they don't want to volunteer, they just don't seem to be engaged. So now I face the terrible, complex task of potentially closing out this long standing non-profit community group. Ugh.

Plus, we are having renos done to our house so the past week has all been about clearing out my office/art studio and the spare room. But in 6-8 weeks when it's done.... oooohhhhh..... the rooms are getting extended, so I will have space to cut a rug mid writing flow if I so fancy.

 

[AgentPete]

What's happened since COVID that many people just don't want to do stuff anymore? They don't want to work, they don't want to volunteer, they just don't seem to be engaged.

I've noticed that, too. But why?

 

[Mel L]

Oh my, where do I start? Since we moved a year ago, we have renovated inside and out, and are currently in the final phase of our upstairs and exteriors. Even if we are not doing the work ourselves, managing it takes a huge amount of time and mental bandwidth (not to mention making coffee for the lovely people doing the work). Then there's family -- a new granddaughter born at the end of April (even if over the moon, obviously!) A holiday that went afoul when I came down with shingles followed by 3 weeks of misery from which I'm just resurfacing. Oh, and two elderly French bulldogs who need to be gently prompted and regularly walked to avoid disasters indoors. Writing, what is that?

 

[LJ Beck]

I've noticed that, too. But why?

I've read some interesting articles and studies about this. I've been mulling over some vague ideas... This doesn't include the people who got long Covid, or serious long term health issues from Covid. That's in a whole other tragic category.

1) People have learned to live differently. During the pandemic, we stayed home, for better or worse. We were forced into a different way of life. I think that instilled a kind of low energy for venturing out. Basically, we embraced a form of social laziness.

2) It created a massive recession. Business closed, or changed how they do business, people lost their jobs. People aren't starting new businesses. Going out = spending money. But this doesn't explain why people don't want to work! Seems counterintuitive, right? I think people learned to make do with less. Or learned to accept less. Buckle down.

3) People have picked up more hobbies since the pandemic, and are content to do those without engaging in a group. Or engaging in smaller, more intimate groups. Like their safe "bubbles" during the pandemic.

4) Since isolating, people have found other ways to connect... on line. From home. Where it's safe and doesn't take as much effort to connect. Not saying it's better... just different/easier. I mean just look at social media - the 10 second connection. Easy, quick, little effort.

5) Trust issues. We masked up and every other person became a threat. Trust issues with the government, trust issues with the medical community. Trust issues on a global scale. This makes people weary and skeptical, which is more conducive to living a smaller more contained life, not exploration and innovation. I'm still mulling on this one.

6) People think more about how they want to use their time. The pandemic provided an opportunity to see life differently. Some people discovered the joy of spending time with family. Some might have had an opportunity to discover a life without working as hard. Some found new passions that didn't rely on the social structures they used before. Almost everyone had to adjust in some ways, and some people enjoyed the adjustments and it's changed how they live. Less work. Less stress. Enjoying a "smaller" life.

It's complicated. Covid got people thinking differently. Changed the dynamics of our social structure. Time will tell how much.

 

[AgentPete]

1) People have learned to live differently. During the pandemic, we stayed home, for better or worse. We were forced into a different way of life. I think that instilled a kind of low energy for venturing out. Basically, we embraced a form of social laziness.

This and the following - magisterial analysis. Every point hits home. Definitely a book in it (or maybe there's already been one?)

2) It created a massive recession. Business closed, or changed how they do business, people lost their jobs. People aren't starting new businesses. Going out = spending money. But this doesn't explain why people don't want to work! Seems counterintuitive, right? I think people learned to make do with less. Or learned to accept less. Buckle down.

All my favorite places in London closed down. Indie shops, restaurants, etc. Replaced by soulless corporate cash extraction operations. It changed the entire vibe.

3) People have picked up more hobbies since the pandemic, and are content to do those without engaging in a group. Or engaging in smaller, more intimate groups. Like their safe "bubbles" during the pandemic.

We're cocooning.

4) Since isolating, people have found other ways to connect... on line. From home. Where it's safe and doesn't take as much effort to connect. Not saying it's better... just different/easier. I mean just look at social media - the 10 second connection. Easy, quick, little effort.

Downside - meeting your life partner is a thousand times more difficult now.

5) Trust issues. We masked up and every other person became a threat. Trust issues with the government, trust issues with the medical community. Trust issues on a global scale. This makes people weary and skeptical, which is more conducive to living a smaller more contained life, not exploration and innovation. I'm still mulling on this one.

I see this every day.

6) People think more about how they want to use their time. The pandemic provided an opportunity to see life differently. Some people discovered the joy of spending time with family. Some might have had an opportunity to discover a life without working as hard. Some found new passions that didn't rely on the social structures they used before. Almost everyone had to adjust in some ways, and some people enjoyed the adjustments and it's changed how they live. Less work. Less stress. Enjoying a "smaller" life.

Yup. Will they always feel this way, I wonder?

It's complicated. Covid got people thinking differently. Changed the dynamics of our social structure. Time will tell how much.

Again, brilliant insights.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

For me right now it's the Tamariki Book Festival, coming up on 6 July. I'm the chairperson of the board/organising committee, and 4 weeks out from the festival, two of our four members are down with Covid, and the third is terrible about responding to emails and getting things done. So it's pretty much down to me doing everything.

And it's been maddeningly beautiful outdoors for weeks. It should be cold and rainy in May and June, but it's been dry and crisp--perfect for hauling manure to the garden, pruning fruit trees, spreading mulch. I'm thrilled to be getting those things done this early in winter, because usually I'm frantically trying to get them done in August before it's too late, but it does cut into writing.

 

[Barbara]

Nemesis?

I currently have loads. From a fractured finger (work related), to arthritic hands (work related), to ailing parents and all the phone calls that come wih it because I live abroad, to working extra hours to make ends meet, to job seeking (aren't I always wanting to change career) because I can't do this volume of work in this kind of job for very much longer (and I certainly shouldn't be working with a broken finger), to some other stuff which mean I can barely get through the day, and oh crap I forgot I have a mountain of housework and ...

But you know what? I said "stuff it. Stuff it all. I'm a writer, so that's what I do."

Everyday I open my WIP. I strap my finger and wrists, and I sit and work on Mia even if it's just 5 minutes. The housework will have to wait. I'm writing and that's that.

"Up yours" to my Nemesis.

 

[Pamela Jo]

Nemesis?

I currently have loads. From a fractured finger (work related), to arthritic hands (work related), to ailing parents and all the phone calls that come wih it because I live abroad, to working extra hours to make ends meet, to job seeking (aren't I always wanting to change career) because I can't do this volume of work in this kind of job for very much longer (and I certainly shouldn't be working with a broken finger), to some other stuff which mean I can barely get through the day, and oh crap I forgot I have a mountain of housework and ...

But you know what? I said "stuff it. Stuff it all. I'm a writer, so that's what I do."

Everyday I open my WIP. I strap my finger and wrists, and I sit and work on Mia even if it's just 5 minutes. The housework will have to wait. I'm writing and that's that.

"Up yours" to my Nemesis.

Good for you Barbara. I also have a broken finger nad accepting it's going to heal crooked, but at least it doesnt interfere much. I'm in awe of you. You are my new hero.

 

[Nikky Lee]

Commuting to work. It chews up between 2-3 hours every day I go in, which is 2-3 hours I would othewise spend writing or author admining. And now work has also just mandated we have to be in the office four days a week.