My Brave New Journey

In March this blog will be two years old. The same month will mark the first anniversary of my last day at a job I held for seventeen years. And I hope this year it will also be the beginning of a joining of those two events in a unique way. The journey I want to begin is also a secret dream I’ve held for much of my life.

When one is forced to quit working due to a disability, life changes drastically. I was no exception to that rule. Working put the routine in my life. Suddenly that all changed. All of my hours were free and clear to do whatever I wanted to do with them.

I Felt Like A Child Running Free

In some ways, I felt like a child with a limitless credit card, except with minutes to spend instead of dollars. Unfortunately, that was quite literally.

When you stop working, the paychecks quit going into your bank account. Funny how that works, huh? Bills keep coming in the mailbox. Grocery stores want payment for the food you are taking home. Without a paycheck, what do you do?

The obvious answer is to find new ways to bring money in. You could start to sell things off but, sooner or later your storage shed will be empty. When there’s nothing left to sell you are back to square one. Or, you can journey to new adventures with a job working from your home on your terms.

I Considered Working From Home

Many times in the past I researched ideas for working from home. So many of those were scams that took your startup money with very little or no return on your investment. Or they were borderline legitimate but, you had to work long hard hours for next to nothing to put in your account.

Some people try direct sales products, but these are not ideal for the average person. Once you’ve persuaded your family and friends to buy from you one time, your sales drop because nobody else feels obligated to buy your product. Quite often most of the direct sales products are priced higher than similar items in stores.

One option is to sell services. Even a disabled person is capable of serving others in some capacity, although it is often necessary to make allowances for the disability. Someone with chronic pain who still has mobility might be able to babysit. Or, they could be a personal shopper for a person who is homebound.

My New Journey

In my case, the journey I’ve decided to embark upon is freelance writing. I’ve been a writer all my life. When I wrote my first poem in grade school, I was hooked. In my hand words are tools and weapons.

I’m amazed at how little I knew about it. Freelance writing isn’t all about writing. It’s about selling yourself. It requires confidence, dedication, and passion for both your topic of interest and putting pen to paper (or hands to keyboard).

Being a writer has been a dream of mine all of my life. Until now, I thought it was an impossible dream. In fact, for so long I believed it was impossible so I never even tried to look into it. I regret that now.

I’ve been a writer but, I’ve never been a “writer.” For my entire life, I have filled many hours putting words on paper and loving it. But I never called myself a writer because I was not recognized or published. I thought that was a requirement to call myself a writer.

I was wrong. However, I had to quit working and be forced to search for an income for me to realize the truth. Now I need to make my passion work for me.

In the coming weeks, there may be some changes to this blog. One of the things I learned that I need to break into freelance writing is samples of my work. This blog showcases what I do, but it isn’t all that I can do. I will need to demonstrate more of my abilities.

Take This Journey With Me

I’m asking you all to take this journey with me. Follow along and watch my new life unfold. Feedback and critiques are welcomed and encouraged. So are advice and tips.

Since more time will be needed to learn the ropes of this new undertaking, I may need to reduce the posts here to once a week instead of twice a week. Instead of Mondays and Thursdays, I will post on Wednesdays. Once I am up and running with my freelance career, I can begin to post twice a week again.

Leave comments below or email me with suggestions. If you hate my writing, I want to know that too. I love to hear that you enjoy what I write. Share me with your friends and loved ones. Will you join me as I journey down a road of dreams and hopes? Let me hear from you!