I’m going to let you in on what I’m working towards for my life. I want to write as a living, maybe with a team, have time for my loved ones and hobbies, and live in a yurt, preferably in a yurt village. I want to be successful and financially well off so that me, my family, and friends won’t have to struggle anymore, and I want us to all live long, healthy, and fruitful lives. That’s what I want. See? I don’t think I’m expecting too much before my earthly life is over.
This hope that I have that I not only can but will accomplish these goals of mine is sometimes the only thing that motivates me to continue to press forward. I know what I want is big, but I also know that it is possible. Anyway, that’s what I want for now because life has taught me that plans can change or, at the very least, be delayed.
I took a risk, quitting my full-time job to pursue this writing thing. But life doesn’t move backwards, and I’m not getting any younger; worse yet, I was not happy at my job. I appreciated it, and it was a noble profession, but I didn’t want to be in a position anymore where I was expected to help people figure out their problems. I didn’t want that responsibility. Partly because I started to feel inadequate (maybe because of a sense of apathy), and partly because I wanted to become more self-focused.
I spent over 15 years in human services and ended up getting “stuck” in a position I never really wanted in the first place. I got into human services to get experience with the brain and behaviors, but most of the jobs I had were mostly about spending time with people to get more billable time. It reminds me of when I was in undergrad, and I was studying Criminal Justice. I thought the classes would focus on the criminal more than the system, but nope. So I started to focus on Psychology.
Although I do not regret my time in the human services field, I must say that I didn’t get a chance to apply what I learned in school and, ultimately, forgot it…You don’t use it, you’ll lose it. I’m still interested in Psychology, the brain, and behavior, but I think of it more as a self-learning journey rather than a profession at this point in life. That being said, I met a lot of great people during my time in human services. From colleagues to clients, some truly remarkable people. Working in human services was an honor, and I’m thankful for the experience. Will I ever do it again? I hope not, but there could be worse things.
So, I’m going to take everything I learned from my experience in the human services field and incorporate it somehow into my writing life as a reminder that the last 15 years or so of my professional life were not in vain, and apply it to my future. It will help me stretch my creative brain muscles to see how my past, present, and future experiences all intertwine.