Free time can be a funny thing. No matter how much we have, we are often left wanting more, but when we have too much we run the risk of getting bored.

Earlier this week I quipped on Facebook about finally having enough free time to get bored. The past month has been quite a whirlwind of activity. It seems like I’ve have one thing after another since the second week of August.

First there was the extra-long work week (10 days, with a close/open shift in the middle); my work schedule is such that I don’t really have any consistent days off, (especially not weekends). Then there was my trip to Los Angeles. Then there was Labor Day weekend, of course filled with an SCA event (I did have fun, to tell the truth). Then my mom, who I hadn’t seen for more than a year, flew into town (don’t worry Mom, I enjoyed seeing you). And then it all culminated last weekend with Crown Tournament. Of course, any scrap of free time seemed to be taken up by preparing for events (especially Crown) or people being in/out of town.

But by this week I was finally in the clear. There were no big events on the horizon (not for a few months, at least), and there was nothing else to do besides attend to the small things that piled up during the mad rush. But those could wait. I decided I needed a mental health break.

So Wednesday was my first full day off in what seemed like quite a while. As was fitting, I did a whole lot of nothing (having short work days on Monday and Tuesday also helped). And yes, I did get bored. But it was kind of nice, a change of pace from having to steal moments of relaxation at the expense of productivity. For a while, I reveled in my boredom.

But as the day drew to a close, I started to think about having to go back to work, and how I would soon have to take care of things like laundry and dishes. I thought about all the video games I would have liked to try, that would have to wait. Even though I had almost a full day to myself, I wanted more time.

I suppose that’s our lot in life, though, to be dissatisfied with what we have until it’s almost gone. Knowing that doesn’t make it any easier, of course, and the drive to slack off wasn’t enough to keep me from fighter practice (as usual, I knew I would have fun once I got there) or from writing a post (even though I had a buffer). I just lament the fact that there’s more I wanted to do, but am going to have to wait (not that long, probably) to experience. It’s silly.

But so it goes, I guess.