Order and priorities
Aug. 15th, 2004 04:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eve_primeAfter working most of the afternoon, and then reading for educational purposes (an article by Eric at work, on the similarity between dissonance and guilt), I made a point to indulge myself in some reading for pure pleasure, The Magic of Recluce. It had been six or seven years since I'd read it before, and I'd forgotten all except the most basics (an amusingly disaffected young man leaves his island and travels all across another land, meeting a strange wizard who turns out -- though perhaps not until another book -- to be his uncle, and becoming a wizard in the process himself) and a few assorted images of people, places, and events. Reading the first chapters brought quite a bit more back, but not so much that it won't be great fun to keep reading.
I always enjoy the hybridization that comes from reading multiple books at once, and today it was interesting to reflect on the stern commitment to tidiness and cleanliness on Recluce (maintaining order, holding chaos at bay, even through keeping one's floors spotless and kettles sparkling) and, at the same time, the effects of overstimulation that many introverts experience from lots of sensory input, in The Introvert Advantage. Could it be that my lack of domesticity keeps me overstimulated because I don't regularly have the sense of serenity that comes from a well-ordered home? I do appreciate beautiful homes, simplicity, and order, but that requires much more work and discipline than I want to invest, given how many things I have (especially papers) and how little time there is to proceed with things I really do consider important. I think of myself as tuning out the disorder, but perhaps I don't, really. Something to contemplate.
R. and B. are at Fahrenheit 9/11, after having moved much of B's heavier stuff to his new place. D. and I tidied the house a bunch (30-45 min a week, that's about all I want to spare for cleaning, heh), and then he relaxed with Scooby Doo cartoons. One of today's episodes was startlingly new: Fred mentioned DVDs, and the bad guys were "irresponsible environmental extremists." Hmm. I wished, when I heard that, that I'd paid attention more closely, so I'd know whether I'd concur with the message or be disturbed at the anti-environmental propaganda.
I always enjoy the hybridization that comes from reading multiple books at once, and today it was interesting to reflect on the stern commitment to tidiness and cleanliness on Recluce (maintaining order, holding chaos at bay, even through keeping one's floors spotless and kettles sparkling) and, at the same time, the effects of overstimulation that many introverts experience from lots of sensory input, in The Introvert Advantage. Could it be that my lack of domesticity keeps me overstimulated because I don't regularly have the sense of serenity that comes from a well-ordered home? I do appreciate beautiful homes, simplicity, and order, but that requires much more work and discipline than I want to invest, given how many things I have (especially papers) and how little time there is to proceed with things I really do consider important. I think of myself as tuning out the disorder, but perhaps I don't, really. Something to contemplate.
R. and B. are at Fahrenheit 9/11, after having moved much of B's heavier stuff to his new place. D. and I tidied the house a bunch (30-45 min a week, that's about all I want to spare for cleaning, heh), and then he relaxed with Scooby Doo cartoons. One of today's episodes was startlingly new: Fred mentioned DVDs, and the bad guys were "irresponsible environmental extremists." Hmm. I wished, when I heard that, that I'd paid attention more closely, so I'd know whether I'd concur with the message or be disturbed at the anti-environmental propaganda.