*Taps Mic*

Is this thing on? Can you hear me?

Hi there, it’s been a minute or two. I think I’ve written before about how the pandemic really hampered my creativity and creative schedule. Although we seem to be returning to normal, for better or worse, that hasn’t helped the situation.

My full time job has been crushing. Everyday I feel as if a boulder has landed on me. My head hurts, I clench my jaw, grind my teeth and I don’t have the capacity for much beyond the stress and frustration I feel. I find myself living in a constant state of stress (my Garmin watch agrees). Even after the work day ends, I’ve struggled to find time for creativity, myself, anything really. I’m never decompressed enough to work on anything else beyond basic survival of myself and family.

I am exhausted.

So this year, I’m taking a risk and making a leap. I turned in my notice at the full time job and am going to devote myself full time to the things I’m passionate about. Hopefully some of them will pay the bills along the way.

This is actually pretty terrifying when I think about it because it’s not just me. I have a family, pets, etc but I also have a safety cushion and have done the math over and over to know I can survive for at least a little while.

Last year I had a goal of writing 1 story a month which I absolutely didn’t do, not even a little bit. For this year, I gave myself a similar goal of writing at least 6 stories, 1 every 2 months. With some space to breathe, I can hopefully meet it.

No matter how scary the idea of actually taking this leap is, it’s so nice to actually be able to crawl from under this boulder and have the capacity to work on these things.

So here’s to a new year, new adventures and new leaps.

If you’re reading this, take a second and tell me how you’re doing.