My Average Summer Day

Summer is a great time.  I try not to complain about summer: not the heat, or the lack of rain, or the then abundance of rain.  Summer is meant to be enjoyed.  That said, summer has a tendency to work people to the bone.  If you climb into bed on a summer night not completely exhausted, you're doing something wrong. Between summer jobs, swimming, playing outside, or even just baking under the sun, you shouldn't have excess energy at day's end.  For me, this is doubly true.

Here's my average day.  Note the word 'average.'  By definition, some days are better and some are worse.

7:00am: Wake up

7:02: Start my morning yoga/martial arts stretching routine.  Goal is to reach the splits by start of 2013.

8:00: Have a shower and prepare breakfast.  Pack a lunch.

9:00: Twenty minutes of meditation.

9:20 - 10:30: Free time.  For this blog's purpose, this is the time where 90% of my drawing gets done.  If I don't draw now, I might not get a chance later.

10:30: Get ready and leave for work.

10:50am - 3:00pm: Working at a summer sport's camp run by the karate school I go to.  My job description basically reads 'keep kids aged 6-10 happy and entertained.'  I like kids, I really do, but this is an exhausting four hours, especially when I'm the head councillor for the day.

3:00 - 3:30: Down time.  I would call it free time, but I more or less use this time to sit in a silent corner and take deep breaths, unwinding.  I have yet to do anything productive in this window, save for perhaps dropping off library books.

My schedule now diverges, depending on whether I work that afternoon.  If yes, which is the majority, then:

4:00 - 9:00: Working as an assistant karate instructor.  As far as summer jobs go, this is awesome, but it has more physical demands than, say, operating the McDonald's drive-thru.

9:20: Arrive home, eat something, go to bed shortly.  If I still feel alert, I might draw.  I think it's happened maybe twice.

And when I don't work:

4:00: Go for a 5k run.

4:30 - 5:30: Free time.  Good time for drawing.

6:00 - 9:00: Personal karate training.  The number seems big, but I spend about half the time teaching and correcting other students.

9:20: Arrive home, eat something, go to bed shortly.  If I still feel alert -- no, hasn't happened.

Looking at this, this is a hefty schedule.  I often work nine hour days, not to mention my own personal fitness goals.  On most days I have maybe two hours of free time, but it's not as if I use all that time for art.  I have other interests, from simple reading to juggling to being with friends and family, not to mention the pure laziness of relaxing to the TV or a videogame.  Also, necessities like cleaning or shopping or doing dishes or petting a cat get priority.

The fact I draw at all is impressive.  I'm making some big sacrifices to fulfil this art challenge.  I've effectively given up chess, writing and music in favour of art.  If this doesn't show dedication, nothing does.  One reason I'm not super-psyched about art over the last few weeks is likely this schedule.  If I can survive this, I can survive any art-related challenge.  When I'm an accomplished artist, I can look back to this time and know my dedication here brought me my future results.  No question.