Time for Activism

I don't mean that in the "What time is it? Time for activism!" way. I mean it in the "I don't have time for my life and I'm trying to figure out how to be an activist and also a person" kind of way.

I recently got sucked into the student segment of a state budget campaign. The irony is, of course, that I'm not working in the state where I vote, but I am supporting a cause I think is important. I'm blogging for the campaign and it's all fairly time consuming.

I've also got all my usual queer activism and I'm the president of the sexuality club I just founded at my school. I've been involved in our college's diversity task force (although I skipped the last meeting) and I get invited (read: pressured) to help with various feminist clubs and progressive groups. I write my column for the school paper.

Then there's my online presence, which I very much value and want to spend time on. I really like reading and writing blogs, I like the community here, and I want to keep up with it. It's pretty fulfilling for me, and my mind is boggled by people who seem to be able to have a huge online presence and do the rest of their lives, too.

Then there's school. I've got an independent study project that I could probably contentedly work on to the exclusion of all else. If I'm going to do it well, I'm going to need to devote a lot of time. I've just had a serious rethinking of how I'm structuring my thesis, so I've got lots of catch-up to do. There are also all my other classes, in which I am behind as usual.

Then there's work. I'm only dancing once a week right now, but I'd very much like to be doing more. I could use the money and frankly the exercise, but I just don't have the time or energy.

Oh yeah, and I want to have a social life. I want to spend some time with my friends. Having sex is pretty important to me, too. I'm not such a fun person when I'm not getting it. It improves my outlook on life and my mood. I want to have time for that, too.

I was thinking about it, and there are plenty of people who seem to do work and school and blogging, but I wonder if they're doing as much in terms of activism. Don't think I'm minimizing how much work it all is without the added activisming (yes, that is a word now, because I said so). I know firsthand that it's a lot of work. I'm just starting to fold and get burnt out. That's clearly the last thing I need.

Graduation is so close, and that's part of the problem. I'm fantasizing about working and writing and being an activist without having to do school. I actually had a dream about it the other week, about summer and being finished. I'll have a degree. I can just live. It's just a question of getting there.