Don Adams and Jason Schoenagle are Dead
I've blogged here before about my friend , who has the audacity to still be deceased, despite the fact that after all these years I can't believe it's true.
I was thinking about him this morning, after a conversation with my husband about balance� or more specifically, my complete and utter lack thereof.
I have always been a HUGE Don Adams fan. (Nope, it's not a non sequitur � just seems that way for the moment.) I adore Get Smart, and I go nuts every time Tennessee Tuxedo says, "Chumley, let's go see Mister Whoopee." Don Adams is one of those actors I would have loved to meet, despite the fact that I would have gone completely stupid around him.
Well, I had the chance.
My friend Jason worked with AFI, and they were doing something that involved Don Adams, and Jason had to deliver something to the home of Agent 86 himself. Knowing what a Maxwell Smart/Tennessee Tuxedo geek I am, Jason invited me along. He was even going to let me make the delivery, which I doubtless would have done while holding my shoe to my ear as if it were a phone� because I very much am that big a dork.
I said no.
I felt like I had to. I was buried with work, had deadlines threatening to suffocate me� there was no possible way I could take the time off, even if it was just for a couple hours.
Don Adams died a couple months later. Jason lived longer than that, but now he's gone too.
The work I did that day? I can't even remember what project it was. I do remember I did use every bit of that day to work, and just barely made my deadline, but still� I missed out on something pretty unique and fun.
My job � and I know many of you share the same situation � isn't nine to five. If I wanted to, I could fill 24/7 with legitimate work, be it paid assignments or new things I'm developing on spec. Sometimes things do get so hectic that I have to go into lockdown and do nothing else if I want to make my deadlines. But when I'm not at that critical place, there needs to be room for balance.
I haven't found it yet. I'm all about getting everything else in the world accomplished until a deadline is in my face, then I kick into gear to meet the deadline. When deadlines converge, it's ugly. In that dreamlike "balanced" place, I imagine enough work gets handled effectively at all times that the madness never hits.
I'm fairly certain this was a skill I was supposed to learn back in elementary school, but it never took. Instead I learned how to buy one-pound bags of M&Ms and munch them as I stayed up all night before a test or paper was due.
I've decided April will be the month of balance. (It will also be the month of P90X, but that's a different post). Wish me luck.
Have you managed to achieve the perfect life/work balance? Any pointers? I'd more than appreciate them!
