Into the Swing of Things

We really are planning to make this work, this time around - 2018 will be the tortoise that wins the race. No pushing, no shoving, no big changes over night, but keeping everything up to date and making time for what is important to me. 

To put this simply, I recently read an article by Mark Manson - the author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, a book I have come to adore - called 'The Most Important Question of Your Life'. I think it sums my thinking up quite nicely: 

Who you are is defined by the values you are willing to struggle for. 

It really made me question what I am willing to struggle for - to put in the time, the effort, the sweat, blood and tears. What came out of it? The truth that I am definitely willing to put in the struggle to be a writer. This also makes me a bit anxious thinking about the fact that I'm not putting my 100% into being a writer this very second, but then I just have to take a deep breath and move through this.

Why? Because being able to write is going to take some time.

I think one thing I often forget is that I really do have a lot of time on my hands. Touch wood, all being well, I should have another 60-70 years of life left. I will have to live my life in full over again to get to the age that my parents are currently, and by God did it feel like it took a long time to get here.

So, really, waiting and biding my time, writing here and there when I can, is not the worst thing. After all, I have a plan:

• I will continue working at a full time capacity until September / October
• Meanwhile, I will be applying for Masters' in creative writing of some kind
• I will get into a Masters programme
• In Sept / Oct, I will go and do the Masters programme full time, with a part time job keeping me going (whether that be my current job or something else, undecided)
• After the Masters, I will decide whether creative writing is for me
• If it is, I will focus on it full-time, with the part time job continuing to support me financially
• If it's not, I will have enough journalism experience to be able to get back into that

Life feels like it's always 'beginning', again and again and again. I think this is because we are constantly learning - I definitely feel like I'm in a different place today than I was six months ago, and I have learnt a lot about who I am since then. In six months time again, I'm sure I will be all the more learnéd. 

Interestingly, the only thing that has never changed - not since long ago when I first found it at age fourteen - is the music I love. To this day, I know all the words to Ivoryline's And The Truth.