Platform Challenge, Day 5

After feeling tired from a day at the office, I’m now beginning to catch my second wind.  I think it helps that the light coming through my home office window is a wonderful bright glow, what you get just before or just after a big rain storm comes through.  We had some rain but what we also had was quite a hail storm.  It was an enjoyable sight, really, as I watched the hail hit the ground and bounce continuously like little rubber balls.  Even now, as I glance outside, the ground is still covered in white.  But what I also see down the road are some nasty looking clouds…it would appear the bright glow may soon disappear in place of more rain. 

So I’m betting you have no clue what today’s platform challenge might be, correct? 

Well, it wasn’t to give you a weather update, I can assure you.

Today I can actually say the challenge was a breeze.  (Sorry, couldn’t help yet another reference to weather.)  Why was it so easy?  Because the task for today was to create a blog!  I already have my blog up and running so now, rather than work at creating a blog, I get to actually create a blog post.

If this is your first time visiting my blog, let me introduce myself…I am a writer, a mother, a wife, a legal assistant, a private investigator (no joke), and after a few months at the task I feel I can also call myself a blogger.  I finished writing my first book the end of last year and while I continue to work on editing that book I am also writing a second book.  I began my blog on New Year’s Eve when I finally decided to let the cat out of the bag about my interest in writing and becoming a published author.  Not many knew my secret about wanting to be a writer but even fewer knew I was actually working on a book.  This blog was a way of putting myself out there and it was also put in place to help me remain accountable to the schedule and the goals I still hope to achieve.

I will admit to a huge amount of fear at putting myself out there with a blog.  Now everyone could follow along with me as I continued on my journey as a writer.  Of course, all the thoughts in my head weren’t, What will I do if I succeed? How will I manage my new life as a famous author?  No, those thoughts weren’t even close.  It was more like, What if I fail?  What if I go through all this and can’t even publish a book?  What if no one likes the way I write?  What if no one likes my blog?

Ugh!  Fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of not being liked…they are all feelings I wish we could completely ignore.

There is a great quote by Steven Spielberg… “I had to get over my fear of running through the world naked and learn to say, ‘take me or leave.’”

And Spielberg is right.  Do what you love to do, even at the risk of exposing too much of yourself.  If others don’t like it, don’t let that deter you.  I decided not to let the fear of the “what if’s” hold me back so I posted my first blog, put myself out there and kept on writing.

And then the day job came along…

Writing is not an easy task when you have other obligations throughout the day but I was self-employed and was able to manage my time on the job and at my desk writing so that I could spend an adequate amount of time on each.  I have been self-employed as a private investigator working in criminal defense for over 12 years but then life threw a curve ball and changes had to be made.  A job became available with a group who I had already been working with and I decided it would be beneficial to accept the position.  Taking the full-time office job meant my writing schedule would be greatly affected but I have continued to remain focused and very goal-oriented.  While the past six weeks on the new schedule have taken some getting used to, I have done a fairly good job at mapping out a new writing schedule and sticking with it.

So there you have it.  I am a writer, an aspiring author, some might call me a dreamer or say my head is in the clouds, but if you read my very first post, When Dreams Wake You Up, or my follow-up post, Don’tlet Life rule your Passion, you will see why I stopped dreaming and woke up so that I could fulfill my dreams and finally do what it is I completely enjoy.