Now that I’ve finally survived yet another semester, I’ve taken a few days to sit around (more or less) and focus on simply being. It might sound silly to some, but I personally strive to live as holistically as possible without being too “crunchy”. ðŸ˜
In any case, this has involved me taking a look at the trajectory I’m currently traveling, and taking the time to reassess my goals and what I’m ultimately aiming for. At this point, just as I was last semester, I believe that I can best serve myself and others by following a different path. I know that I’m a natural-born teacher, orator, and communicator, and I think that it’s high time I found another platform that allows me to do all three of these things in a more constructive and much more fulfilling way.
As usual, this leads me to thinking about my fictional and nonfictional works. Am I really able to focus on writing, promoting, and selling my books full- or part time at this point in my life? That’s a HUGE leap into the unknown, and for me, that is also really super scary. However, I’m also hyper-aware of the fact that the best time to launch any ship such as this is when you supposedly “have time”, so the summer is really the best time for me to begin.
That sounds wonderful in theory, but then there is always the dreaded “work/life balance” that for some reason, virtually only women seem to have to worry think about. During this past week or so, I have only written about 5 pages into my next standalone novel, but I’ve been able to start and/or finish about 4 quilting projects since then. Self-sabotaging, much??!!
Well, actually, maybe not. My husband, who is fantastically as diligent as my mom is about reminding me not to be my own worst enemy, pointed out that I need some time “for myself” in order to actually rest my body and mind. He’s very right. â¤ï¸ This all goes back to the holistic perspective of bringing closure to one phase or experience before moving on to another. Energetically speaking, I need to bring balance to my chakras and increase my Qi; in layman’s terms, I need to stfu and ctfd for a hot minute and then decide whether or not I want to proceed into uncharted territory with a clear head and more than just a plan. At the moment, working through this is still a bit of a struggle for me, but I am proud to say that I am getting there!
For those of you who are writers, do you often find yourself prioritizing other things on your To Do list before writing? If you want it to become a full time (or part time) paying job, that’s not going to cut it. Imagine if you were to go to work and your boss asked you to compete a task by the end of the day, but you did every single thing other than that one task. You had one job, and you refused to do it. After walking home with that pink slip, you’d have to ask yourself, how badly did I really want that job?
As soon as you decide that you want to Go Pro, you’ve got to be 100% all in – to the best of your ability. Even if you try it out and decide a bit later that you’ve got cold feet, wade back into the shallow end – and at least know that you tried. But you have to get to that point first. Who knows? You may find it more comfortable swimming in uncharted territory than your fears would like you to believe.
