career path?

[Poetgrrl]

i have a job i do to pay the bills. it's working out okay because i enjoy helping the customers and i enjoy the rapport we've established.

but it seems that all i do is read, write, and wish i had more time to read and write, and get ALL KINDS OF AGGRAVATED because the local paper can't distinguish between breath and breathe... does this mean i need to pursue a career that is more to do with writing?

this is not a plea for a job, understand. this is just a thought that went through my head tonight. i want more time to read what you all have written here in the other sections of this forum. i want more time to reply. i want more time to write my own stuff. and spelling and grammatical errors drive me NUTS! does this mean i need to be a writer / editor somewhere?

i've always "preached" to friends and family they need to follow what makes them happy. reading and writing, (okay... sitting and typing) makes me happy. does this mean i need to take my own advice?

all comments and thoughts welcome. and thank you.

[lemec]

Hello Poetgrrl,

A career in journalism perhaps? If you can do something like that, I'd say go for it! :D Maybe there are careers in publishing that you can get into as well. It sounds like you would have a passion for it. Maybe you can make poetry books, fiction or non-fiction novels?

[xidrep]

There are a few things I believe are true:

(a) One's day job is always likely to descend into a degree of monotony, if only through repetition of even the most engaging activity;

(b) Dreams and aspirations always take longer to achieve than one expects (usually, anyway);

(c) One must never lose sight of any of one's original aims (whether they arose from childhood or latterly);

(d) There's never enough money to fulfil (b) and (c);

(e) The difficulty and effort required to achieve (b) and (c) whilst living on (a) are directly proprotional to the rewards of said effort!

:P

Well, that's what I reckon. Remember Time is compressible and expandable: how well we use it is often related to our organisational skills, and our perspective!

Blah,blah...

[Doc]

Perdix is, of course, one wise ginger cat!

[johneffay]

Re: career path?

and spelling and grammatical errors drive me NUTS! does this mean i need to be a writer / editor somewhere?

I've done both within academia, and either can be a thankless task. If you are an editor, you have to be prepared to be roundly abused by authors for 'butchering' their work. If you are an author, seeing something you've lovingly crafted come back from editing feels like a vicious personal attack on you by the editor. As I said, this was in academia, I would imagine that in a field such as fiction it would be much worse. Of course if you enjoy arguments...

If you just want to correct grammar and spelling, you could always do proofreading. It does get rather mind-numbing after a while though.

[Poetgrrl]

oh dear. i'll just have to finance my flirtation with writing with my day job and perhaps develp a spine for some serious writing.

thank you!

[Whiskers]

I think Perdix is implying that you can do all of it. Take me for instance. I work with computers all day, I love it and have a great deal of fulfillment. I have to strive though to communicate with my co-workers and that is a challenge that sometimes leaves me feeling like I've failed despite technical successes. I've used my expertise to become a better job searcher, but I don't keep in touch with many via email. My avocation, this site, fulfills my creative side but I struggle (and usually win) to focus on my family despite the easy access to computers. In the last year I have striven to do more writing and I've achieved that, though I'd love to do more.

I'm living a compressed time-stream at the moment and it is exhausting. I do almost no pleasure reading. The last thing I read was WAR AMONGST THE ANGELS and I'm still letting that unfold in my head and I have the latter 1/3 of PX to read. Plus I play cards with PWV from time to time and my son keeps me super busy. But, my wife and I seldom see one another due to the unmatched work schedules.

Plus I've become a research freak. If I have a connection and I am exposed to something I don't understand or want to know more about I Google it. That's time consuming!

Come to think of it, I do field a lot of MM related emails with the Chaos engineers and others.

But what a rich experience!

My advice is pack in as many experiences as you can tolerate with time set aside to let your being rest. If you want to exercise your inner Mrs. Crabapple do some tutoring at a local college or something. Personally I think The Internet might be a lost cause. :lol:

[Whiskers]

Oh yeah, and I forgot to say, kill your television.

[Azariel]

Oh yeah, and I forgot to say, kill your television.

Oh, yeah, you get so much more writing/reading done without the piece of crap - I only watch the occasional History Channel with a notebook in had, sketching and writing down and a delirious pace for my next yarn :D

[Azariel]

Oh yeah, and never quit your day job! After High School, i was so determined to write, I didn't go to college or work for a year, only to get swamped down in the process of isolation! I like to turn things around. Like work - boring, but my mind usually is wandering on others things, and since I have a task to preform, my mind is set on imagination as well. Which seems more fruitful than sitting before a computer screen! :D

[spaced_moorcock]

Hi Poetgrrl!

My advice is to go for it if it makes you happy. Life's too short and all that to do something that you don't enjoy for too long.

[Azariel]

Hi Poetgrrl!

My advice is to go for it if it makes you happy. Life's too short and all that to do something that you don't enjoy for too long.

Poetgrrl, let these barbarian words guide you:

I seek not beyond death. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and the stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exhultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content.

--from The Queen of the Black Coast, Conan of Cimmeria


Live life to the fullest, and die without regrets and content! :D

[xidrep]

I'd probably pass on the slaying bit, though, if I were you. It tends to look bad. :roll:

[A_Non_Ymous]

And will doubtless get you talked about, too.

LSN