I am back! Anyone checking this blog on a semi-regular basis might have thought I've been in deep mourning about Grace Paley's death since August 25, but in fact I've had my hands full with some major life decisions. Over on Gordita's blog I listed the many things that were making us crazy in October/November. Those things, plus some good old-fashioned soul-searching, brought me to the realization that life is short, babies grow up to be cowgirls (and rambunctious toddlers), and I can't keep putting off my dreams until life is slower, cheaper and easier. So, I announced my resignation from Corporate America in November and beginning January 1 have taken Night Writer Communications full-time. Hooray!
I will still, of course, continue working for Corporate America, and so remain, with apologies to John Edwards, devoted to corporate greed. (That's just a disclaimer, in case you have taken my career move as some kind of slap in the face to The Man. I love you, The Man. Hire me!)
What is so funny about this is that, overnight, I have attempted to restore some semblance of what we writer-types tend to refer to as The Writer's Life. I lovingly lined up all my style manuals, my copy of The Elements of Style, my design manuals and other texts on the corner of my desk. I spent way too much time selecting the perfect pens (Pilot Precise V5 black rolling ball, medium point, in case you're interested) and way too much money on the perfect notebooks (purchased from a Japanese office supply store in Japantown, believe it or not). I also bought a little Moleskin pocket notebook to carry with me in case inspiration strikes. Because even though my bread and butter is going to continue to come from The Man (hugs), I want to use this career move to get back to what I was hoping to do in the first place — write.
So, here's what is going to be interesting about all this: whether I can retrain my reactive, multi-tasking brain, which has been conditioned like a monkey to juggle five projects at once and make sure all the pieces fall into place, to slow down and indulge in ideas for awhile. Whether I can create the kind of schedule that allows me to spend time exploring, thinking and experimenting with writing. Ultimately, I'd like to get in a regular habit of submitting queries to magazines for articles, but I think when I am constantly busy-busy-busy my mind closes itself to new ideas. Some kind of daily routine of reading, journaling and free-writing is going to be essential to getting back to being a "real writer" again.
I suspect this blog is going to help me with that. And now that I have time to myself, without The Man's (love you baby) IT department monitoring what I'm doing all day long, I don't have an excuse for not musing here every now and again. So bear with me while I learn how to be a writer again!
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