If you dedicate a lot of time to your geeky pursuits… well, firstly, good for you.  But secondly, you’ve probably had someone pointedly remark, “I wish I had time for that.”

You know the tone.  It’s snippy, but just subtle enough to seem casual to anyone else around.  That neat little package is loaded with insinuations that you only have that time because you’re a friendless loser, a slacker, and possibly someone who sneaks around under cover of darkness stealing time from innocent people like themselves.*

Cousins of “I wish I had time for that” are “You have too much time on your hands” and “Oh, that must be nice.”

But you know what?  You didn’t steal any time from them or from anyone.  You didn’t skip out on life’s necessities or kick puppies or burn down the rainforest to get that time.  You just made a concerted effort to use it constructively.

Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day.  What you use yours for is up to you and it’s no one else’s business.

True, there are some legitimately hard-done-by folk who have to work extra-long hours or take care of ailing relatives and so on.  But I find that these people are rarely the purveyors of unsolicited judgement calls.**  The people who tell me it’s nice that I have such a luxury of time to write a book*** tend not to notice what spare time they themselves have.  These are people who don’t dream of a life beyond “wake up -> go to work -> come home -> watch TV -> go to sleep -> repeat.”  Or they’re people who regularly stay up late partying and then complain that they’re tired or lost the morning to sleeping it off.

That’s not who I am and that’s not what I want out of life.  If someone is okay with living a mundane, non-geeky life, then that’s their call.  Whatever you want out of your 24 hours every day is your decision, and you have the right to live the life want.

I’m preoccupied with writing novels and drawing comics.  I’m too busy to pester other people about their lifestyle decisions.  If you’ve got that kind of time…well, that must be nice.

*Or I’m paranoid.  Both are possibilities.
**They’re too tired.
***If you think writing a book is a luxury, then you have never written a book.  Probably never read one either.