day job – Elizabeth Anne Mitchell

Seth Godin vacation life escape — Seth Godin on life

Seth Godin has pinpointed the horns of my dilemma. Of course, I would choose a life where I needed no escape. My life is much like many writers who have had day jobs, from Geoffrey Chaucer to Nathaniel Hawthorne, not that I belong in such august company. I am very good at my day job, but honestly, I tend to invest too much time and energy in it. There are months, or even years, where I do not have the energy for anything else.

However, I want to do more, and believe I have something to offer. Even so, I find it difficult to put my writing above other parts of my life. I feel selfish, and worry that my belief of something to offer is merely the figment of an inflated ego. I often think I should wait for retirement, but I also remember someone who worked for me once, and unwittingly gave me a lesson in waiting for dreams. For years, he had planned travel and other unfulfilled wishes he would accomplish once he was retired. Sadly, he passed away less than a month after his retirement, leaving so many unfulfilled dreams.

I believe I will make the leap of faith to write now. Dreams delayed often are often dreams unfulfilled.

I spent most of the last week feeling ill enough not to accomplish much, but not ill enough to stay home from the day job. I also had to work on Friday, which allowed me to concentrate at work, since my department was empty, the phone didn’t ring, and I was far away from the few students who came to the library.

I spent most of Friday organizing my office, and planning my next few weeks of work. I felt miserable yesterday, and puttered around the house, filing papers, discarding clutter, and generally lazing about. Today, however, I have been a house-cleaning machine. I have cleaned the kitchen from floor to walls, as well as the downstairs powder room from floor to cabinets to walls.

It feels preparatory, as though I am clearing the decks to move ahead with my life. I have let things slide, and need to do some more soul-searching, but I feel clearer. I have a lot of homework to do for the blogging workshop, lots of work at the day job, and a real need to find ways to accomplish everything without taking a toll on my health. I needed to clear the decks just to see the landscape of what has to be done.

I hope all my US colleagues had a good Thanksgiving, and all of you a good end of the week. I hope you have a productive week to come, and I hope to have something more interesting to relate! As always, please encourage someone from the linky here as we slide into the home stretch of this Round.

Tag: day job

Escaping from life

ROW80 check-in Thanksgiving Nesting