My grandmother always used to say that the time for hard work is when you’re young. Is (almost) 37 still considered young?
I never thought of myself as particularly ambitious. Like the man who was too lazy to fail, I try to find the most direct path that will lead me to the (self-described) humble goals I have in mind. More often than not, the most direct path represents a mountain of work, seemingly incongruous to the simplicity of the goal that work is designed to meet.
The Goal: Live in Maine.
The Path: Preferred – Grow a business that will sustain our household while not being reliant upon geography. Backup – Find a job in Portland in my industry that will support us in the lifestyle to which we have become accustomed.
The Work: Maintain full time job. Finish degree. Establish and grow network. Obtain experience. Build business. Sell house. Move 2,747 miles (you bet your bippy I Google Mapped it).
I have to work full time because, hey. Bills. I finally got tuition approved to finish my degree – which I need because, should I have to job hunt in earnest, everybody knows it’s easier to find a good job if you have a degree under your belt. So, I start back again this fall and should be finished by the end of next year (FINALLY. FUCK.). I’ve been working to grow my network of writing and photography professionals, which I must say is humming right along. Freelance writing continues apace, Beyond Megapixels is growing and improving, local clients continue to request my services, and I have a fantastic opportunity to obtain some great photography experience while growing my business… crossing my fingers that the details get worked out because, you guys, it’s really cool.
Thus far, freelance work has fallen into the gaps in my schedule quite nicely, one at a time, and with breaks in between for lollygagging (like last weekend – I wasn’t on the computer AT ALL from Saturday through Tuesday and it was BLISS). This fall, when school and this as-yet-solidified fantastic opportunity kick in, chaos will (ironically, given the nature of chaos) dictate some severely disciplined schedule-adherence.
This is how it always goes – I make plans and gain momentum and all of a sudden these plans are happening, like, NOW, and HELLO REALITY, it is time to actually DO the things I was PLANNING. The amorphous has suddenly become… well, morphous. I am simultaneously welcoming the challenge, and staring all blank-eyed at the Holy Crap of it all. There are one or two things that I will have to let go, in order to meet and succeed at these new opportunities. That’s the nature of growth. The decision to let these things go is a tough one, but there will be no bridge-burning and perhaps those avenues will still be open to me when I have more time to dedicate to them.
Oh, ha, I just realized how that might have sounded. This blog isn’t going anywhere. In fact, writing over here will be one of those items I will prioritize in the New And Improved Anti-Chaos Schedule.
I have been blessed beyond imagining, with fantastic mentors, timely opportunities, and this growing network of contacts that keep me in mind when projects come up. You guys, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of a good network. Many of the opportunities I’ve had lately have FOUND ME, not the other way around, because of my network. If you don’t have one, GROW ONE. If you do have one, TAKE CARE OF IT.
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Okay, enough panicking and pontificating (hey, anybody need a blog title?). Now for some general updates.
Bill will be spending next week in New Mexico. He’ll be driving, and the route he’ll be taking (left toin at Albuquerque!) will go directly through all of the destruction the Wallow Fire caused. I’m thinking I’ll send my backup camera (my trusty XTi) with him. I want to know, and I don’t want to know. You know? We hear that Big Lake survived, but it’s a sure bet it doesn’t look like this anymore. The whole region doesn’t look the way it used to, and it won’t again in our lifetime. And that’s just damned depressing.
Sadly, Robert and Joy split up a couple of months ago. Robert has been spending a lot of time with us, which has been fun despite the reason for it. I think we’ve watched more movies in the past couple of months than the whole previous year combined. Oddly, we’ve been seeing less of Amanda than usual. I don’t think the two events are related.
We’re seven weeks away from this year’s trip to MotoGP in Indianapolis. We’ll be meeting Taoist Biker there again this year, just like we did last year. Muhfugga better fire up his blog again before then, is all I’m sayin’. AYHEM.
Finally, you knew it was coming:
You’re welcome.