After 14 years of self-employment, I’m wondering whether I really am cut out for freelancing. Blame it on mid-life, or the sluggish economy, but I’m thinking about going back to working for someone else.
It may be because I’m currently adrift in an author’s sea, with no book contract to cling to. I’ve sent up signal flares in the form of two proposals, but am now in the “wait and pray” stage of the book process.
The season messes with me as well. The inherent summer distractions, from gardening to the tennis league, from to my husband’s requests for help with his business to the kids’ irresistible invitations to play or shop, keep me from focusing on my work.
During the school year, I also work as a speaker—but my next assignment is on the far horizon of September. And so I wonder—what is it I do, besides hope, pray and, occasionally, blog?
In the movie Finding Nemo, one of my all-time favorite Pixar flicks, my hero is Dory, a cheerful fish who struggles with short-term memory loss. When she doesn’t know what to do, which is often, Dory sings, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. What do we do? We swim.”
So every day, I keep swimming. I spent some time today just praying, asking God for direction and strength—so that I’m not swimming in the wrong direction. Later today, I’m taking a copy of my latest book, Oxygen, and some bookmarks to a local Christian bookstore. I’ll talk to the owners, see if they are willing to put the bookmarks out as a give-away for their customers.
I’ll write this blog, and send a query to a magazine. I’ll play some tennis and enjoy the exercise, not feel guilty about taking time to do it. I’ll pray a little more. I’ll just keep swimming.
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Release Date: 2009
Release Date: 2010
11 Comments
Been there, done that, swimming right beside you. I’ll be Nemo. : )
Thanks, Suz! You’re the best and I hope your new books are doing great!
I entered the world of the self-employed in November 2006. So this advice comes at a great time. “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming. What do we do? We swim.”
Thanks for the encouragement!
This is very enlightening. Someone loaned me a copy of Ortberg’s book “If You Want to Walk on Water . . . ” and in the margin in one place there’s a note, “Finding Nemo.” I’ll bet that’s exactly what she was referring to. Hmm, maybe I need to rent that movie.
Dianne,
Ortberg’s books is awesome, I highly recommend it. And defnitely rent Finding Nemo. (We own it and even tho my kids are 11 and 13 we still watch it sometimes). It’s about taking risks when you’re scared. One of the best kids’ movies because there are definitely things that are funny to adults–like the sharks in a 12-Step program (!)
but it has some great insights about life, love and the fears that keep us stuck in life!
Thanks for the usual candid post. It came in the nick of time. I woke up this morning felling, well, you know, BLAHHHHH. Then as Emeril says, “BAM!” You entered my day with, “Just keep swimming.”
So that’s what I’m going to do, keep swimming and not frantically either. It is going be a steady, confident and restful swim. ’cause after all, Christ swims along with me. Right?
Christ is the water in which we swim. Remember the old hymn, “O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless FREE! Underneath me, all around me, is the current of his love. ”
Wow, I just pulled that out a way back drawer in the memory file! Now I’m going to be singing that along with “Just keep swimming!” all day.
Peace!
Keri, Keri, Keri…I BEG you relax and enjoy all the “moments” of summer. A few years ago, I discovered that my own tendency to leave work at the first invitation to play was a gift, and not a curse! So now I’m on a mission to help all task-oriented people to remember that a season of play and fun (or even an hour of play and fun) can put you back in touch with the Creator fun!
Please give me your address (I’m serious!) and I will send you a copy of my book: Born to be Wild: Rediscover the Freedom of Fun (New Hope 2006). While you’re waiting for the book to arrive, you can visit my website: http://www.jillbaughan.com.
And, of course, you can keep on swimming…but heck, every now and then, STOP swimming and float a while!
Ok, would have responded sooner but I was away from my computer–playing!
thanks, Jill, I appreciate your insights. I LOL when I read your comment since my speaking and writing centers around telling people to slow down. I agree we have to play and have fun==but not 24/7.
But I’ve been off the computer all weekend. Friday my son and I went to the city to play–boat tour, kiddie cocktails at the top of the Hancock building while gazing out at the view, then a trip to one of chicago’s beaches. Saturday I was at our summer home with my daughter and her friends–took them “tubing” behind the boat, lay around in the sun, etc.
Today was my quiet Sabbath day–puttering in the garden, reading the Tribune on my back deck, some blissful and unexpected solitude when I was the only one at home.
I would be interested in seeing your book, Jill. go to my website http://www.keriwyattkent.com and find the place to contact me, and get in touch that way—I’d be glad to read your book and maybe review it in my newsletter. Thanks!
Keri, I know exactly what you are talking about. I also work from home and do less in the summer months. I’m constatnly battling myself between work and having fun.
My daughter and her friend are calling my name, my friends want me to get manicures and pedicures and have lunch, the Farmer’s Market is best this time of year, my husband is off on Wendesdays so how can I dare work when he’s itching to do something fun?
I’m trying to focus on the fact that I’d rather be in charge of my own time because if I worked for someone else, I wouldn’t have these options. I find myself making up time in the early morning, and late at night when they are out and about or watching TV. That is one of the beauties of having a home office.
I think we need to embrace our flexibility instead of fighting it. It’s really a gift. The other thing I’m doing is working smarter. I’m trying to stay more focused on what needs to be done that will bring in the moolah.
Thanks for sharing, and have a fun summer. The kids will be back in school before you know it.
Thanks, Dotsie. You’re right, I should embrace and enjoy the gift of a flexible job. It’s hard when your family depends on you to bring in some income. I think part of my problem this summer is that during each of the past four summers, I was working on a book. This summer that’s not the case, so it feels strange. It’s giving me an opportunity to trust God and have fun with the kids! Thanks for your encouragement. I appreciate it so much!