Not Enough Hours in the Day

Steven and I often say that there are just not enough hours in the day- to spend with our kids, to read the paper, to spend time together, to create art, to read books- just not enough time. After a long day of working and tending to two little tots there just isn't much energy left to devote to our own pursuits.

When I was in college I had a teacher that lectured to us that we needed to find a way to practice our art. Don't tell me you don't have the time. I worked all day long, two jobs, came home and painted until the morning, Slept a few hours and back to work again. There's no excuse for not getting the work done. It felt a bit like those when-I-was-a-kid-I-walked-a-mile-in-the-snow-with-no-shoes-on types of stories, but we humored him because after all we were paying him handsomely.

In some ways, he's right, we make time for certain things. Whether it's television, or internet news, telephone conversations or magazines, we often choose not to get certain things done. I'll write when the kids are napping. I'll sketch during my morning commute instead. I just want to relax right now. Making art is not relaxing. It's work. It takes concentration, energy, focus, drive. It's not a passive activity.

So that's where I differ from my teacher's avowal that we have no excuses for getting the work done. Sure I can throw myself into night projects and wake up bleary-eyed the next day and zombie my way through work and home, my daughter saying, Mommy whatsa matter? But I guess I choose to both take care of my family and be alert at my job; and I choose to read to my daughter at night and bathe my kids. I choose to sideline my art so that I can participate in the lives that are growing around me in my home.

Sometimes in life there are choices that just don't seem like choices. In the end, there just are not enough hours in the day.

Katy Jean May
Creative Director & Mommy