Social networking, time management and divination...

I've been spending a lot of time recently evaluating where my time is best spent on the internet - which methods are effective for me as far as introducing myself to the people who will appreciate what I do (thank you!), and which methods are more of a waste of my time. With every single thing turning itself into some sort of social network these days, it's easy to lose hours on the internet, and that's no bueno unless it's doing you some real, actual good. Otherwise, you're losing time, and time is such a valuable thing. Rather than waste it or lose it, in my opinion it's time best spent elsewhere - like outside.

I love Vox for the community aspects, but the design restrictions and lack of stats are actually detrimental, making it difficult to evaluate which areas of the internet best serve me by bringing the most attention to my efforts in the shortest period of time.  Etsy also suffers this detriment - sellers cannot view stats or easily and privately figure out where our customers are coming from, generally.

And as much as i love the internet, i want it to absorb the least of my creative time as pertains to faerwear, or to yarn, or even to my writing (because the internet itself is such a distraction to my writing process - as ADHD as I am, i get sidetracked easily - one step off to fact check on wikipedia, and it's all over with. Very soon after that I will be cleaning my closet).

Two things that I have noticed have brought me an increased amount of internet presence recently are BlogCatalog and The Talent Database. BlogCatalog, however, is almost overwhelming to me (I'm actually having the same dilemma in my personal life as well, as I don't know if I can handle any more social networking, as it's frankly become a distraction from the real purpose of my presence here - to make a living creatively, by doing things I'm good at. Knowing where my time best spent is part of that).

So far, I've rather liked the new and varied network I'm becoming a part of at The Talent Database, and it is fairly simple. Much more simple than BlogCatalog. I've been adding one or two new items daily to my portfolio there, though not spending an inordinate amount of time there otherwise  (as well, I might eventually have to divide this into two profiles and showcase my writing and jewelry design separately).

In the meantime I am starting a one month long temp assignment tomorrow - a couple of regular paychecks to take the sting out for a second. It's necessary, though I'm not looking forward to an 8am-5pm schedule as my own personal biorhythms don't quite match up to that sort of early morning regularity but it's not forever, and I've scored a new and far more interesting gig after that.

After this temp job ends, I'll be helping the author of this book to the left with distribution, getting it into libraries and onto bookshelves of appropriate stores. It will be a lot of fun, I think, and I will be learning how to do this. I'd say that at this current point in my life these is a very, very important thing to be learning. 

I'm pretty psyched, and in the meantime I'm just going to suck it up and be thankful. By the way, do you think a temp in a business casual environment can get away with wearing a nice, new, denim skirt with black tights and a black sweater? I have a feeling I'm going to have to stretch the limits here.

I have stacked my iPod up with a bunch of new music and meditation mp3s, i have a portable knitting project (yes, I'm still working on the same Yoga Sock (yes, SOCK, as in NUMBER ONE and due to actually needing a pair of these i cut up some old sweat socks to stand in, and I'm at a complicated hump I really should pass through before I try and knit on a bus).  Now, too, I have this book to read, which is presented from a down-to-earth, Jungian, Taoist perspective I wholeheartedly relate to (much as I enjoy blaming almost anything otherworldly on faeries). The author, Paul O'Brien, is an i Ching expert and is creator of the website Tarot.com (it has since been sold). The book discusses both tarot and the i Ching as well as numerology, astrology, and runes and presents divination not as a method for predicting the future but for tapping into our deeper selves and our intuition to define the now and future for ourselves by using these ancient and thought-provoking tools.

Speaking of tools, here's my personal favorite method of "divination", though I mostly use it to determine chakra  and other body-energetic activity and not so much decision-making or consideration-weighing. I just made this pendulum from a rutilated quartz bead I have been carrying around for a couple of years. It's the only bead I have like it and once the pendulum was completed I resonated with it pretty strongly, so once again I've put off offering them in my Etsy store  (in the meantime, as I haven't been able to get an order together for a local shop and now don't have the time, I put all my woven and stone clusters back up for the time, too).

Anyway, I'm thrilled that I'll soon be doing some work for a foundation whose mission it is to, in part, "research ancient spiritual traditions worldwide; teach people and institutions how to make better decisions by developing intuition; promote practical spiritual systems that help people attract and manifest their heart's desires that are in alignment with the collective Good; and to support the cultivation of wisdom toward making better personal and institutional choices."

I can so absolutely champion that!