Categorically Lazy
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Last week, I received a “kick in the pants” email from my book editor (my cousin Larry) that warned that due to my slacking-off on the book-writing front, I was running the danger of becoming known only as a writer of a weekly small town newspaper column rather than as the world-famous author of several best-sellers that I planned on writing someday. I have to hand it to Larry; appealing to my delusions of grandeur while preying on my insecurities is a very effective way to get my attention.
The tough-love from my cousin is both deserved and appreciated. Not only have I failed to start writing the follow-up to my runaway hit “Naked Snow Angels”, (a book that sold literally tens of copies worldwide), but I have also neglected to update my blog and my website (www.travisnaughton.com) for months. I could excuse my lack of output by claiming that I am too busy being a stay-at-home dad/husband/housekeeper/cook/dishwasher/taxi driver/groundskeeper/grocery-getter/clothes-washer/sorter/folder to write more, but the truth is that I am just plain lazy.
I could do more with the three hours of free time I have each morning while Truman is at preschool, but if you could kick your kids out the door at 7:45 a.m. and have the house to yourself for a precious few hours afterwards, wouldn’t you crawl under the covers and go back to sleep, too?
I don’t do mornings because I am a night owl, and by 10:00 p.m. I’m usually the last one up at the Naughton house. I suppose I should use that time to write, but more often than not, the lethal combination of a comfy recliner and a high definition television set kill my desire to work. This is especially true after a long day of doing chores and/or watching sports.
The philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote, “Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law.” In other words, only do those things which you would want everyone to do under the same circumstances. Kant called this moral law his Categorical Imperative. If I live by the Categorical Imperative and I choose to be lazy and neglect to live up to my creative potential, then I am implicitly willing that everyone be lazy and neglect their creative potential. This of course would be unsustainable because eventually there would be no new programming on my HDTV worth watching.
Therefore, in order to please Kant and my dozens of faithful readers, (and guarantee the future productivity and continuation of the human race), I need to begin my next writing project ASAP. Larry was absolutely right saying that by not writing more I am running the risk of only being known for writing a column in a small town newspaper. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing necessarily. I thoroughly enjoy writing this column for the Journal, and judging by the feedback I’ve received, there are a few folks in Southern Boone County who enjoy reading it each week. One afternoon not long ago, a woman introduced herself to me and said that one of my columns actually changed her life. She said that she had reached a point in her life where she needed a push in a new direction, an impetus to make a better life for herself. At that same moment in time, New Year’s Day, I had written an article about hitting life’s reset button on January 1st thereby giving us all an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and live up to our full potential. The woman said that when she read my column, she instantly realized what she needed to do in order to improve her life. She said she cut out my column and posted it to her bulletin board so she could see it every day and remain motivated. Soon thereafter, she enrolled in college and began to change her life for the better. Then she said to me, “I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ and tell you how much your column meant to me.”
I was humbled by the woman’s kind words and moved to tears listening to her story. I realized right then and there that being known only as a writer of a weekly small town newspaper was good enough for me.
The tough-love from my cousin is both deserved and appreciated. Not only have I failed to start writing the follow-up to my runaway hit “Naked Snow Angels”, (a book that sold literally tens of copies worldwide), but I have also neglected to update my blog and my website (www.travisnaughton.com) for months. I could excuse my lack of output by claiming that I am too busy being a stay-at-home dad/husband/housekeeper/cook/dishwasher/taxi driver/groundskeeper/grocery-getter/clothes-washer/sorter/folder to write more, but the truth is that I am just plain lazy.
I could do more with the three hours of free time I have each morning while Truman is at preschool, but if you could kick your kids out the door at 7:45 a.m. and have the house to yourself for a precious few hours afterwards, wouldn’t you crawl under the covers and go back to sleep, too?
I don’t do mornings because I am a night owl, and by 10:00 p.m. I’m usually the last one up at the Naughton house. I suppose I should use that time to write, but more often than not, the lethal combination of a comfy recliner and a high definition television set kill my desire to work. This is especially true after a long day of doing chores and/or watching sports.
Therefore, in order to please Kant and my dozens of faithful readers, (and guarantee the future productivity and continuation of the human race), I need to begin my next writing project ASAP. Larry was absolutely right saying that by not writing more I am running the risk of only being known for writing a column in a small town newspaper. But I don’t think that’s a bad thing necessarily. I thoroughly enjoy writing this column for the Journal, and judging by the feedback I’ve received, there are a few folks in Southern Boone County who enjoy reading it each week. One afternoon not long ago, a woman introduced herself to me and said that one of my columns actually changed her life. She said that she had reached a point in her life where she needed a push in a new direction, an impetus to make a better life for herself. At that same moment in time, New Year’s Day, I had written an article about hitting life’s reset button on January 1st thereby giving us all an opportunity to reinvent ourselves and live up to our full potential. The woman said that when she read my column, she instantly realized what she needed to do in order to improve her life. She said she cut out my column and posted it to her bulletin board so she could see it every day and remain motivated. Soon thereafter, she enrolled in college and began to change her life for the better. Then she said to me, “I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ and tell you how much your column meant to me.”
I was humbled by the woman’s kind words and moved to tears listening to her story. I realized right then and there that being known only as a writer of a weekly small town newspaper was good enough for me.
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