In July 2014--the month after I turned 35--I quit my day job. Since then I've been earning my living as an author. It hasn't been easy, and I've been tempted to give up more than once, but nearly a year later I'm still at it. Sometimes I'm nearly overcome by the challenges, and sometimes I feel nearly drunk on joy. I've achieved some of my greatest dreams, but I've also faced more self-doubt and uncertainty in the last ten months than I have in most of my last ten years. And it's partially because of that manic up-and-down emotional roller-coaster that I'm considering reviving this blog.
I'm hoping that keeping a journal of my writing life will provide me with a more objective vantage point from which to view my progress (or lack of progress). I'm hoping that jotting down my thoughts and feelings will give me a record that I can reference whenever I'm feeling particularly high or low. I'm hoping this blog will help with my long-view, since it's so easy to get completely wrapped up in the here-and-now.
I've also learned a lot and grown a lot since quitting my job to pursue my dream, and I plan on writing about those things here, too. Putting my thoughts into words has always helped me to more fully process and understand those thoughts. It helps me figure out why I think what I think, and I'm hoping this blog will help me on that front. I want to better develop my strategies.
Also, the fact that this blog is public is significant. Writing can be a pretty introverted and isolating activity; I'm hoping that putting my thoughts down in a public venue will help to keep me from falling into insular thinking, even if I'm the only person reading those posts.
So that's where I'm at right now.
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