My Guilty Pleasure Chest OR Confessions of a Multitasker

Let's get right to it. I haven't posted for over a month. Why you ask? Have I lost interest? Been travelling? Sick? No, no. Worse. Much worse. I have considered my blog a guilty pleasure. Recently, I told my sister that working crossword puzzles is one of my guilty pleasures. It was one of those statements that sounded inane as soon as I said it out loud. After a brief struggle to explain, I changed the topic. The voice in my head said: How sad is that?

Usually the voice in my head makes more sense than the voice that comes out of my mouth. That prompted me to explore my philosophy on this subject. I started with what I consider my guilty pleasures. Crossword puzzles (duh), blogging, sudoku, jigsaw puzzles. I'm sure there's more, but this was enough to begin my analysis. Good thing I have this blog, or last year this introspective might have led me to believe that puzzles create some Pavlovian response, or Freudian since I used to work puzzles with my now deceased mother.

I admittedly waste way too much time watching TV, so why didn't that make the list? Because I am a great multitasker. I justify most of my TV time by incorporating other tasks -- folding laundry, paying bills, going through junk mail, etc., etc. I can accomplish something while watching TV. So there is the commonality of my guilty pleasures. They are solitary luxuries which require my full attention. My theory is supported by the fact that I can do a guilt-free sudoku in the confinement of an airplane or a jigsaw if I work it with my daughter.

It is also easy to see a history of justifications. There are many activities I do for fun. Golf, bowl, ride motorcycles, eat out, etc. I can justify this time by acknowledging that at the same time I am getting exercise, building relationships, or some other worthwhile endeavor. So where does this guilt come from that I connect to simply enjoying the pleasures of life? I blame it on the Catholic nuns...