Essay Camp day #1 2026

Today is the 3rd day of the 13th week, the 24th day of the 3rd month, the 83rd day of 2026 [with only 275 shopping days until Christmas], and:

• American Diabetes Association Alert Day
• International Day for Achievers
• International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims 
• National Agricultural Day
• National Cheesecake Day
• National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
• National Cocktail Day
• World Tuberculosis Day
• the moon is waxing crescent at 37% of full
• and Voyager 1 is currently ~23h 32m 24s of light travel time from Earth - @NSFVoyager2@techhub.social is back to posting again!  

Quote of the day:
~ Sister Dang Nghiem, “How to Be Your Own Soulmate”

"What we choose every moment will affect our habits, our personality, and our destiny. Therefore, we must choose with awareness, with understanding and love, so we can care for ourselves better."

Now according to the excellent prompt given for this first day, I don't have to know anything about a subject in order to be able to present an intelligent, witty, and interesting essay on that topic.  that may be, but it appears to be beyond my capacity - or maybe it is beyond the time that it would take to craft such an epistle to those of you who read me.

Of late, time has been the finite resource that has caused me the most problem.  I don't know why - granted the annual "spring forward" routine has been particular onerous this year and I am still not full acclimated [I blame having to commute in the morning to the office twice a week in pitch darkness], but that did not reduce the number of hours in the day.   Granted I have come to realize that time indeed seems to accelerate as I get older.  Granted there has been a lot of demands on my time in the past year.  

But none of this seems to adequately explain to me what is happening in my life

I mean I'm not laying abed to all hours; six days of the week I get up by the alarm going off.  Because that alarm very rudely goes off so early, I am usually in bed before 10 PM these days, but that does give me about 15 - 16 hours to do stuff.  Take off about 8 hours for work [make that 10 - 11 on the two days I have to commute] and about 90+ for the daily phone call to my friend, and that leaves me about 5 hours for chores and eating and recreation.  Five whole hours every workday!  Weekends are a little less scripted - let's say 14 hours are available on Saturday and about 9 hours on Sundays - giving me a walloping total of  48 hours of me time [minus the inevitable chores, especially laundry and the napping that seems to happen on weekends] is available to me each week.  

So why are so many books going unread, games unplayed, news stories ignored, my sim in world not landscaped, shows not watched, crafts not finished and so few outings made?   

Why does time seem to slip through my fingers and I end up heading to bed with the feeling that this most irrevocably irreplaceable resource is just not where [or maybe when would be a better adverb to use] I can use it?  

I am not busy all the time, nor do I want to be in constant motion, one of those people who always have to be "doing" something;  I truly treasure the times I get to lollygag about, and relax, and read.  And yet, there is a nagging feeling that somehow I am missing out on the purpose of life, frittering away the days that have been given to me.  After all, there are fewer days ahead of me than are behind me...