[LSPoorEeyorick]

MY PRIORITIES:
My relationship with Tom. Tending to and enjoying all aspects of our marriage, including our friendship, our sexuality, our shared creative goals. This is my great joy, and my #1 priority.

My relationship with my family (and also Tom's.) Listening to and comforting my parents, putting personal vacations on hold in order to spend time with all of them. Building friendships with my nieces and nephews as they grow older. Staying in touch with siblings, striving to stay close despite distance and differing points of view.

My relationship with my friends. Nurturing and building connections with people I trust, challenging each other without tearing each other down, supporting each other without conditions. Collaborating creatively, or just relaxing and having fun. Seeking to understand and empathize with the people in my life, which I'm not always successful at – but at least I do try. On the other hand, I also find it important to limit my contact with crazy-makers.

Overcoming my self-imposed obstacles to my creative happiness. Starting creative work again and again until I can finally finish it. Shuffling my priorities to try to make that happen. Working towards my dream career instead of dreaming about it. Pushing myself creatively in my current job – when I'm able. And during the times I'm able to overcome my obstacles… writing, directing, making art.

"Filling my creative well" to center myself and gather inspiration. Seeking adventure, traveling, being a tourist in my own city, seeing great movies, listening to great music, watching great theater, reading great books, going to museums to soak in some art or revel in history or culture. Also in this category is my health – getting regular exercise (mostly swimming) and eating well (and eating delicious food in moderation) is another way that I'm able to "refill" and center myself. All of this ties into my spirituality, I think. It's a hodgepodge. Hell, even taking a bath, painting my toenails, putting together a great outfit lands in this category.

Staying connected to the world at large. Staying informed. Following politics – though that will always come after everything above. And if following politics, etc, gets in the way of centering myself, it falls by the wayside. Volunteering, donating to charity, etc. Having compassion without developing compassion fatigue.

Taking care of our pets, our home and our belongings. To an extent. I love to be in a clean environment, but it will never take priority over snuggling with Tom, or calling my mother, or listening to a friend, or working on a creative pieces, or enjoying my life. I've met people who clean obsessively – for whom cleaning is a hobby. I spotless-clean for company, and I spot-clean out of respect for my home and my partner, usually after it's gotten a little but not a lot dirty.


NOT MY PRIORITIES:
Obsessively organizing budgets, or aggressively seeking money. We don't spend a lot, and we do save for short- and long-term purposes. But as much as I appreciate a comfortable life and enjoy my belongings, they are nowhere near as important to me as my loved ones and my experiences.

Mindless passive activity, otherwise known as "refresh mode." I get stuck in it from time to time, but it is never really what I want out of my life. In this category: re-watching stuff I don't really like, excessive obsession over fannish things (which was something I did a lot when I was younger), or… er… clicking the "refresh" button on LoT or LJ or anything else, simply because I'm bored and stopping myself from what I really do want to be doing. I'm getting better at it, but it's still a challenge – and it's definitely not what I really want my life to be.