I’ve been learning a thing or three about simplifying my life.

I’m one of those people who’s curious about and interested in just about everything. This has always been both a blessing and a curse because it has always made it difficult for me to figure out what subjects and hobbies to pursue. It’s the sort of thing that gave me trouble in college because I couldn’t decide which major to pick, so as a result I graduated with one major, three minors, and enough knowledge in other fields to technically have given me at least two other minors. It’s the sort of thing that has always made it difficult to use my free time well because I want to do too many things with those minutes.

But life these days has become incredibly full, so I’m learning to trim things. It’s a tough process because I don’t really want to trim things out of my life. But I’m learning that I really can’t do them all, even less so now that I have the obligations of a family and livestock and a property to keep up. I’m figuring out how to identify those things that are truly my passions and those that are simply my interests and hobbies.

I’ve more or less eliminated everything but my music, my writing, and Halo. I’ll be getting a piano around Christmas, so I’m eagerly anticipating getting back into lessons and picking up where I left off. I miss visiting my music, and I’m itching to really nail some ragtime and start learning how to play by ear and improvise. It was something I was just starting to learn when I had to give up lessons several years ago.

My writing has quite possibly surprised even my love of music as my number one passion right now. There are so many stories to tell now that I can hardly keep track of them all. I have a blog to write to, a flash fiction site to run and occasionally contribute to, an anthology project in its planning stages, short stories to write and submit, and at least one good novel idea in the making. I’d love to see my name sitting on a bookshelf somewhere and be able to give up working a ‘regular job’ in favor of becoming an author.

Of course, there’s always Halo. I don’t have as much time for video games as I used to. I do miss being able to play, but there are only just so many hours in a day. What free time I have is given to relaxing and to some writing. But I still have Friday nights reserved to join the guys on Xbox Live for some Halo 2 multiplayer action. Somehow this first-person shooter has captured my devotion, even to the point of joining up with one of the most renowned and respected clans involved with the game.

These are my passions, the hobbies that I am fanatical about. All the others I have had to set aside for the time being. Perhaps one day I’ll have time for some of them again, but if not I doubt that I will even really miss them that much. There are certainly plenty of other things to hold my attention.