I discovered the other day that I have a problem. There are too many of me about the place.
No, really, this is a serious problem, it just sounds silly. Basically I do too many things, and I don't always remember to tell me about them. Rhodri the PAPA Member is currently stealing time that Rhodri the Home Owner ought to be using to hoover the house, while Rhodri the LibDem is making agitating noises about getting on with writing a petition form, Rhodri the PCC Member wants to do a poster of the summer events in church, and Rhodri the Internet Maven just wants to go play. Rhodri the SF Reader has gone off to sulk somewhere since he hasn't had nearly enough time to himself for ages, while Rhodri the Video Watcher and Rhodri the Gardener (ho ho) are happy enough because they got to do their bits earlier on. Rhodri the Filker is currently knackered from having been to a fannish wedding, so he's not raising a fuss, Rhodri the Software Consultant is having a weekend dammit, and Rhodri the Roleplayer has had a busy week and is all played out at the moment. Rhodri the Conrunner, on the other hand, is just being ruthlessly suppressed by all of me (and a few helpful friends).
All this is stuff that needs doing, or that I really want to do; all these "me"s really are clamouring for time and effort, and contrive to make me feel guilty if I don't keep them at least a bit happy. Some of these things are important, for God's sake! I wouldn't be messing around with church or politics if I didn't think that they mattered, if I didn't think that there are things which are wrong, locally or globally, which I could help to fix. Some of the things are needful, and much as I may resent those of me who watch for them I do still have to keep my house and garden in repair, if not exactly lovely. The rest are just fun, though 'just' is really the wrong word to be using. I do need my relaxation, and it is good to have some of me keeping an eye out for that sort of thing, but do I really need that many interests? Of course not, but I've got them none the less, and I enjoy all of them enough that I don't want to let any of them go.
There are times when I wonder what I would do it cloning was really an option, if I could have an extra couple of me around the place to take some of the load. Before you ask, no I haven't seen Multiplicity or whatever that Michael Keaton film was called, this is all my own random maundering. To be honest, I don't think I'd go for the idea. The basic problem is that I want to do all these things (except maybe the housework and the gardening), I want to experience all the fun things and do all the important stuff. Oh, and read all about it later, of course.
It would be neater if there was some sort of weird telepathic link between all the Rhodri-clones. That might make a difference, but on the whole I suspect that I would still find ways of overloading it with too many different things going on at once. "Hey, could you guys turn the noise down in here, we're trying to concentrate on a new song and a short story and the TV is too distracting." And cutting me off from the rest of me under those circumstances would be really bad, since I'd immediately want to know what I was doing.
The thought has occurred to me on a number of occasions that what I really need to do is to cut down on what I do. This is a fine and noble thought, but it just doesn't seem to work for me. I like to be doing things, and to have a wide selection of things to be doing. The times that I get unhappy are when deadlines encroach and I have to do something — like writing this article (now you know why I write short contributions!) — that I'd successfully put off for a while. In a lot of ways I'd rather be doing something else right now, whether it's something worthy or just slobbing in front of the TV, purely because this has to be written now or it won't get done in time. Half an hour ago, when I was ironing some shirts, I really wanted to be writing this just because it was something other than doing the ironing. Just having the alternative was something that I really needed.
On the whole, I think I like me as I am. All of me. Just as long as I can keep the deadlines from arriving simultaneously!