Tuesday, March 25, 2008

about the other day

...when I wrote in Portuguese... sorry Katrina (LOL you seen the only one who noticed). I was just rambling about trying to get too much done online and how it was giving me a headache, an actual, for real, headache. I have since improved a little bit, but am just falling behind on everything I would like to do instead of permanently cutting on stuff. Truth is I don’t know what else to cut, since I seem to be mostly distracted by things which are top of the list to be cut (like reading blogs LOL)

Anyway, to give everyone some background, I feel this addiction to scrapbooking and its online community is the healthiest addiction I have ever had, if that makes any sense. I used to spend way too much money in paper scrapping, a real addiction, and for someone that won’t even buy a shoe without thinking twice, that was a big thing.

Then I got into computer games (that has been on and off for the last 15 years LOL) and World of Warcraft was a real bad addiction in this household. Sleepless nights were the least of the problems cause by the game. Me and Alex almost died when we went to Brazil in 2005 and had to go without the game for a month. Then we hurried our errands on the weekend to get back home to play, we would lose our temper if Mateus got out of bed during the night because we wanted to play, we didn’t invited friends over because we wanted to play, everything revolved around the game. That is how bad it was. My mom didn’t like it when she came to visit, my mother in law didn’t like it either. When Lucas was born it was a big wake up call for me and after trying to play “without interruptions” a couple of times, it finally sank in that the whole thing was just not healthy!!! I quit April last year and Alex soon followed. Our life has completely changed, completely, and for the better.

I started digiscrapping about the same time I got frustrated with World of Warcraft, and let me say, the addiction took over (what is it with me and this kind of behaviour?). Once again I planned my weekends around what projects I wanted to get done. Slept only after finishing such and such assigments. Hurried to get photobooks done to take advantage of a certain promotion. When I went to Brasil I kept thinking about all my CTs and the community and everything that I was “missing out” oh no silly me. Once I got back I realised I just could not do it all and quit a lot of things. Except for not being able to get to bed at night (LOL) I have improved a lot. Our weekends are now dedicated only to our kids and getting together with friends. I am trying to scrap what I want to and not what I “need” to. I am still enjoying it all and trying to find a balance. I don’t know if I will ever find it, but there is no other option but to keep trying...... speaking of digiscrapping LOL, just finished a page while I was typing this up :)


self-portrait, originally uploaded by michellefilo.



argh, 3AM again LOL Hope you are having a great week :)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Quanto mais eu te leio, mais eu te acho parecida comigo. Quando eu acho um hobby eu me jogo. Qualquer coisa, jogos, foruns, blogs, qualquer coisa é um vício. Fico feliz em saber que o seu tá controlado, hehehe, pq o meu tá longe disso!

Beijos!

Heather said...

So glad to hear that you have broken the WoW addiction.. I have recently done it myself.. husband hasn't yet but he never let it affect him like it did me. Maybe someday.. but he does break away anytime I ask him to.

Your pages are beautiful and been a real inspiration to me in my adventures into scrapbooking.

Ana Paula said...

Que bom que vc ta equilibrando as coisas, Mi... eu tenho feito isso tambem. Tem horas que temos que dar um tempo em tudo, ne? :)

Bjs!

Anonymous said...

That's great, Michelle! I know what you mean about an addiction, too. Glad you've gotten focused. I'm totally working on that myself.

Unknown said...

Mi, a chave de tudo � o equil�brio mesmo, que bom que voc� est� conseguindo!!!! beijinhos e bom restinho de semana!
P.S. quando eu tirei o Civilization do meu computador quase chorei kkkk

Anonymous said...

I really really love this page. You have some great designs Michelle! Your one of my favorites :)

Nice to see another fellow Aussie around!

Anonymous said...

oh and I know about the addiction thing too! I'm relatively new to scrapbooking, but boy I am addicted. I was thinking last night, how and why I feel the need to stay up all night to finish a design. I think it has something to do with me trying to prove something to myself, that I can push my creativeness. Hmmm not always a good thing.

Jana Vianna said...

I hope so,rs
Beijinhos

Unknown said...

Oi Mi...depois de muito tempo tb consegui ver alguns albuns de fotos, os novos scraps e dei uma passadinha no blog.
Com certeza, Mi, a chave da felicidade é o equilíbrio.Só não é tão fácil assim alcançá-lo, mas acho que estar na busca dele é o que nos move e nos leva a crescer e encontrar novos caminhos e novas experiências.
Como vc, tb tenho muitos interesses e pouco tempo para colocar todos eles em prática.Tb acho que o dia deveria ter mais horas pra eu poder realizar tudo o que quero.E olhe q já não tenho mais crianças pra cuidar e tenho empregada pra me ajudar com a casa.
Mi, adorei as fotos profissionais...
Mas tô mesmo é babando em cima da sua nova câmera....M A R A V I L H O S A........
Aquelas fotos do Mateus no chuveiro...as gotas caindo..são fora de série...
Adorei saber que vcs 4 estão curtindo mais tempo juntos...pois como já conversamos antes...momentos vividos não voltam....são únicos.
Bom..só falta eu dizer que tô morrendo de saudades de vcs...
Acho que vou ter que ir praí mais rápido que eu pensava...
Ainda mais qdo falo pelo msn e o Mateus diz..."vovó, quero ir na sua casa"....já pensou qdo o Lucas tiver falando tb!!!!!
Haja coração...ou o Carlos que ganhe na loteria pra sustentar minhas viagens a cada 3 meses.
Um beijo a todos aí
Sosso

Anonymous said...

Miiii, que post maravilhoso... quero dizer... verdadeiro e real. Quanto ao jogo, confesso que fiquei impressionada... quanto ao scrap... bem, acho que todas nós passamos por isso...

Mas como vc disse, ao menos é mais saudável né...rsrs Eu acho...

Anonymous said...

oh michelle i'm RIGHT there w/ ya! i'm get so addicted to everything too! especially now w/ designing.. i def. have to step back a LOT to realize when it's getting in the way of REAL life. xooxoxoxox