My response to the last comment reminded me that I have big news which will have a huge impact on my writing -- I quit my job! I've resigned from the wonderful, flexible job I've had for the past 8 1/2 years doing P.R. for AHC Inc., a nonprofit affordable housing developer. I've had the best boss imaginable and done a variety of interesting work. But the job was becoming more and more demanding, and harder to ignore during my time off, and hence harder to focus on my own writing.
So I'm making a change. I've decided to start my own consulting business, KB Concepts P.R. I'll offer my services to nonprofits only, doing annual reports, brochures and awards, media relations, special events and photography. My current boss already offered me a job taking photos at an event!
My last day at AHC is March 8th. Then I'll go to Haiti for a week, run a 1/2 marathon, celebrate my birthday and work seriously at finishing my novel. At the same time, I'm setting up a home office and thinking about logos, accounting systems and new clients. I plan to exercise and write my own stuff in the mornings, see clients and work on my business in the afternoons.
Have you ever felt like your life is taking off in a new direction and you have very little control over these big changes and happenings? But it feels OK because somehow you know it's all good and the right way to go? Well that's been my life for the past several months and I can tell it's gonna continue this way for months to come. I'm riding the wave, embracing the changes and excited about the future. Something big is happening and I'm just gonna roll with it.
There've been a couple of other times before in my life when this happened, and I remember them vividly. I'm a little older and hopefully a little wiser now, although god knows not one bit more mature. So I'm going for it -- and just like the theater manager says in my favorite movie of all time, Shakespeare in Love, it always works out in the end. How? No one knows -- it's a mystery.
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3 comments:
How brave and bold! I admire your courage. Your writing life is wide open now. Liberation! Freedom! I am thrilled for you.
Congratulations! I too made a major career shift out of the mainstream and out on my own several years ago. I did it for similar reasons...tired of giving too much of myself to someone/something else; a desire to pursue the things that I have a passion for. In retrospect it's the best thing I ever did for myself. I was dying, spiritually, emotionally some days even physically, working in the mainstream for 20 plus years. You have to gird yourself for some realities. Sometimes I don't know when the next paycheck will arrive. I'm ok with that. You'll have to be too. As a little side note to this, I have made numerous career moves over the years. Pretty much at every one of these junctures in my life, I get a flurry of very strong deja vu events. I have these on occassion anyways but there's always a very noticeable upswing in the number and intensity when I'm making a big change. I've always taken these as a sign that I'm on the right path. And yes, it does seem to work out in the end. Good luck!
Thanks so much for the encouragement. I don't always feel so brave and bold -- in fact, lots of times I feel like a complete chicken!
But a colleague gave me a great lead today, and another friend/graphic artist who I've worked with on several jobs offered to do my logo for free, so two more good things. And I'm a big believer in the old cliche that showing up is half the battle. So I'll show up and see what happens.
I also agree that these "riding the wave" moments ARE a sign that one is on the right track...very cool!
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