OK to have fun

May 5, 2009

A ray of sunshine lights the way to the future. I’ve received my first post-employment break. There is a glimmer of hope for my working future.

A local major university has hired me to write an article for one of their school’s quarterly publications and it is paying what was a week’s worth of take-home wages from my previous job. This is a fairly major piece so it will take me at least a week’s worth of labor to get it done properly, but the big thing is, it is work and it is making a valuable contact for me at a major employer in the area.

It’s nice to think that I could possibly make a decent living as a free-lancer. I know how tough that is from previous dealings with free-lance writers as a newspaper editor. My article is due by May 25 so I’ll be very busy the next couple of weeks, especially with school starting on Monday. That’s OK because the inactivity was wreaking havoc on my mind. I am a person who needs to be busy.

By the way, I got the work as a result of a networking connection with a local friend. That proves correct the advice I got from a "headhunter" a couple of weeks ago who said it is almost worthless to respond to “help wanted” ads in the newspaper or on the Internet. He said the way to a new job is through networking. Who knows where this gig will lead? That’s the excitement of taking this opportunity to make a midcareer change and try my hand at going back to school.

I also figured out that because I wasn’t actively generating income anymore, I was punishing myself by not allowing myself to have a good time. I enjoy our hot tub, for instance, and I haven’t been using it for a couple of weeks. Self-flagellation. I wasn’t allowing myself to bask in the sun during the afternoon or enjoy a hockey game on TV. That changed today. I ventured into the hot tub. I must be regaining some self-worth and a sense of identity. I am a writer and editor, and also a student. I am pretty good at all those tasks, so how hard should it be to get hired in a year?

A note to self: It’s OK to have fun, to enjoy life. I haven’t done anything wrong, and with all the positive support I’ve received, I should be floating on Cloud Nine.