{"id":3202,"date":"2013-12-17T10:44:33","date_gmt":"2013-12-17T15:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.old.caraghobrien.com\/book\/?p=3202"},"modified":"2013-12-17T10:44:33","modified_gmt":"2013-12-17T15:44:33","slug":"to-write-or-shop-that-is-the-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/miscellaneous\/to-write-or-shop-that-is-the-question\/","title":{"rendered":"To Write or Shop. That Is the Question."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"presents\"I have family, and needless to say, I love them.\u00a0 We are fast approaching the time of year when we express our love for people most obviously by producing gifts under a decorated tree.\u00a0 The tradition stretches back through ages of deep and silly happiness, year after year, so I\u2019m not giving it up.<\/p>\n

It means I need to shop, as in: it is a true project with a deadline.\u00a0 Since zillions of others need to shop, too, I get this sense of frenzy out there, this rush of people infused with frantic, hyped up anxiety.\u00a0 The ads and stories coming at me via TV, newspaper, radio, and Internet bombard me with one unrelenting message: get out there and buy.\u00a0 Go!\u00a0 Buy!<\/p>\n

Yeah, but no.\u00a0 I don\u2019t do frenzy.\u00a0 Obviously, I need to shop online to avoid the mall horror, except I\u2019m running out of delivery time, so it really needs to happen now.\u00a0 Here\u2019s my computer.\u00a0 My credit card is at the ready.\u00a0 What\u2019s stopping me?<\/p>\n

I want to write.<\/p>\n

My work place (my computer) and my shopping place (my computer) are the same thing.\u00a0 It becomes strikingly obvious that I\u2019m neglecting one activity for the other as soon as I turn on my MacBook.\u00a0 When I recall my priorities: 1) Family, 2) Writing, 3) Everything Else, shopping for family for Christmas seems to belong in Category 1.\u00a0 But that still feels wrong, and I think I\u2019ve found out why.<\/p>\n

Those presents under the tree are only part of the story.\u00a0 For my family, Christmas is really about getting together.\u00a0 It\u2019s a milestone, time-marking tradition where we consciously and subconsciously realize another year has passed and here we are, glad to be home in the same place with one another.\u00a0 We share music, faith, great meals, and laughs together. \u00a0Christmas is when I feel the real gifts are that I have happy kids, a loving husband, meaningful work, and a kind community.\u00a0 Wrapped presents can\u2019t touch that kind of deep joy.\u00a0 They\u2019re only tokens representing the love underneath.<\/p>\n

Aww, so sweet, right?\u00a0 It\u2019s true, though.<\/p>\n

What does this mean, practically, for my shopping vs. writing dilemma?\u00a0 I\u2019m doing what other working moms are doing: I\u2019m writing during my work hours, and shopping when I get a chance, at night or on breaks.\u00a0 Enough will get done, and no one will miss what doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 After all, it\u2019s Christmas that\u2019s coming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have family, and needless to say, I love them.\u00a0 We are fast approaching the time of year when we express our love for people most obviously by producing gifts under a decorated tree.\u00a0 The tradition stretches back through ages of deep and silly happiness, year after year, so I\u2019m not giving it up. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[37],"class_list":["post-3202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellaneous","tag-writing-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3202"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3208,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3202\/revisions\/3208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}