My Path's Twist and Turn

When people ask me what I do, I often have to pause for a moment to figure out what to say. Most people, I think, do not have difficulty with this question. They can say, I'm a lawyer, I'm a contractor, I'm a journalist, I'm a mechanic, etc. Their careers are easily defined. I once dreamt that I too would be able to have any easy answer to this question, but at nearly 28 years of age, I am beginning to come to terms with the fact that I do not fit cleanly into any one category.

I generally take a deep breath, and begin with, "Well, I do ______________ for regular money, but I am also working on building my own business, and I freelance writing and editing on the side. People arch their eye brows at me and wonder if I am fooling myself.

I'm not fooling myself; I do have an ultimate goal in mind. One day I want to be able to tell people that I own my own editing services business. I want to be able to say, "Oh, I am the owner and operator of A Write Word. It keeps me busy." But in order to be able to say that, I have to be able to provide for myself, and make enough money to build a business. That is no small task in today's economy.

This past year I have had a lot of employment switches. Usually, I stay at the same job for several years, but lately I have been feeling like there is no time to waste in a dead end job. My criteria for "good" employment has changed drastically. I used to look for a job that was in my field, that had good hours, good pay, nice people, and opportunity for advancement. Now I am looking for a job that has flexible hours, is close to my home (the current site of my business), and offers me the opportunity to learn about running a business.

As such, I have taken a job that does not pay well and has a LOT of other detracting features. I have also had to take a second job just to help pay the bills. This second job is a real twist in the road for me. I am doing wine and spirits promotion. This is something I have never done before. I tend to be a rather shy and reserved person. This job is forcing me to become outgoing, conversational, upbeat, and excessively friendly. Unwittingly, I seem to have taken a job that will teach me social skills that I have never cultivated, and that will be extremely useful to me when I am trying to sell my services for A Write Word.

It just goes to show you, though the road is twisting and turning and causing motion sickness, you never know what you are going to learn around the next bend. You just have to be willing to ride out the nausea.