Busy my ass

The past couple of weeks I have been trying to avoid saying the words, "I've been really busy" This is usually in response to the question of "what's new?" or "what have you been up to?". I hate this notion of busy-ness. As if we are required to be busy.

What if someone answered one of those questions by saying, "oh, I've been sitting around staring at a blank wall for weeks" ??? No one says that. You almost like you have to say you've been busy, even if you've been sitting around playing on your Wii, you've been busy.

But I guess that's really everyone's definition of busy. In college I was really "busy".... drinking, smoking, and procrastinating. Right now, I'm really busy too...obviously...blogging, watching Noggin, and having a "sleepover" with my three year old.

I really hate it when someone says they haven't called or done something because they've been busy. Um, yeah, we're all busy, even the person playing the Wii. It's just that you chose not to do it! Which is fine. Thats fine that you chose not to call me over having a nice dinner with your husband. It's fine that you haven't cleaned your kitchen because you'd rather watch The Hills. I get it, we all do it. You make choices and you have to...

I guess we could all be busier. But personally, I like being lazy. I need my 30 minutes of surfing the internet and then my TV time. I could be doing laundry or emailing or something mildly productive -- but I just don't want to be doing something all the time!

I guess the thing I hate about the "busy" response is that its become so generic, it doesn't really reveal any information. It is now the "I'm good" response that really tells you nothing about the status of some one's life or mental health or general well being.

So, next time someone asks what you've been up to -- I implore you -- don't say you've been busy! Give them a nugget, a peek into your life..."I've been a total coach potato this week", "Kid #1 has been sick, so I've been totally occupied", "I've been planning this party and its taking over my life!"

Hmm, I need to think about what other generic things we say that really mean nothing...