Actually, there are no further puns in this post. Not intentional ones, anyway. I was just trying to be clever.
But I did have something cool happen to me last night that I’ve decided to take as a sign. It all started…
Wait – there’s a bit of history here. None of this will make sense without the history.
You see, I used to be a full time writer. I started my career at a trade magazine company, then went on to work for All Music Guide in 2007. I was laid off in 2008 and haven’t worked as a full time writer since. I’ve been lucky to get some freelance gigs, but the coveted role of full-time writing professional has so far eluded me. It gets frustrating, and there have been plenty of moments when I’ve considered giving up entirely and going back to school to be a nutritionist or a paralegal or another profession that might hold my interest.
Recently though, I’ve had a number of hints and signs that seem to indicate that I should stick with my first love. Sometimes they’re pretty obvious, like having people tell me that I should write more, or that they’re happy to be working with me again after a long hiatus. Sometimes the signs are a lot more subtle, like the revelation I had about how to finally proceed with my blog. (You read about that yesterday, right? If not, go here.)
However, I think the strongest nudge yet happened last night when I was moving my car to a different parking space. After parking said car and getting out to return to my house, I stumbled upon a random, yet significant artifact lying intact on the ground. It was wet from the rain and had barely escaped from being crushed by my tires. What was this mysterious object lying in the gravel path? What incongruity had appeared in the semi-rural area where I live?
It was a pen. A new pen. And a pretty cool one at that.
Well, I think it’s cool.
I brought it in and dried it off, then took a picture of it (obviously). It’s sitting on my desk right now, and I like to think it fell out of the sky just for me. Like, seriously. I think it was a nudge from the Universe to convince me to stick with what I love, no matter where that path may lead. Perhaps that’s why I was holding that pen when I decided that it’s time to take the next step and learn to expand my storytelling skill set.
I think I’ll use that pen to take notes as I start on my newest quest – learning how to take better photos and create videos for my blog. And who knows where that road may lead?