Is it safe to come out now?
This is my first blog post after over a year break from blogging about my 'now not so new life in California'. I feel like I've been playing hide and seek on the internet. Mostly hide, hide and please don't find me I'm hermit-ing!
I haven't really reflected too much on this. Life in the actual world took over I suppose, moving house, again. Meeting new people, making new real world connections in the community. Having a lot of outdoor yard work to do each day. Working to heat our home with piles of firewood, gathering, staging and kindling each fire, learning the skill of not smoking out the house and looking for ways to replenish our fuel source.
Even this small change in lifestyle, from cubicle apartment life to cabin life has brought me closer to the earth. With the seasons change we planted a garden and are now reaping what we sowed....time well spent off the internet and instead of crafting indoors working the land and establishing a livable, working home out of the semi-furnished shell we've been loaned.
One of the biggest changes has been space, we have one more room for an office/nursery an extra bathroom and a lot more storage space. Although this space is filled with four peoples belongings, it is ample and has allowed us to relax into the fibers of the house. We each seep into our favorite corners when we need to reflect and regain ourselves and gather together in the very open plan central hub of the house, the large kitchen, dining and family area.
I now have my own office area, a lovely gift from my dear sweet man (although I'm cheating today and hurting my back writing from the dining table). I now have a designated keyboard spot and he has 1 1/2 man caves to litter with tools and hats and all the other random boy things that fill those spaces. Domestic life is suiting me well. I'm getting over my dislike of cooking, the summer means more staging of raw vegetables than actual cooking, which is healthy and splendid.
Moving from my new international community to a small town where the proverbial grapevine is more of a loud speaker truck that drives up and down each and every families house in town has been a challenge for me. Being British, being private, navigating new friends and people I've known for longer that are not so interested in me now I live here and I'm a fixture. My shiny new penny status wore off within a week and so I'm starting to make real friends, true friends, people who don't seem to care what I bring to the table...or even if I decide not to join in that day. In a town where being religious, reputation, how many people you know and how long you've lived in it may equal status I'm pretty low on the pole. Yes this big fish is treading water in a bigger pond, but I'm here and I'm turning surviving into thriving. Sickeningly enjoying being my husbands stay at home wife (with no kids), yes, how dare I!
After a few failed attempts at finding work here. I am trying not to be cynical about employers in the region. Instead I took a trip home, I've been offered at least 7 jobs in the last few months, but none of them US based and not one in our region. I was even offered a two year contract that came with housing and a car. My local friends must think I'm not patient enough or giving their area a chance, but the reality is that there are very few jobs here and they go to relatives or friends of the owners or current employees, not necessarily the best person for the job. The overseas job offers boosted my confidence enough to explore other options.
During my time in England I narrowed my ideas and my heart settled down into the 'me' I'd lost somewhere in relocation. I spent a few hours with one of my best friends, time with my sisters, my parents and walked around my childhood town gathering my thoughts.
One of the things I've always loved and felt confident in was writing, essays, stories, poems, even just keeping a journal. I felt happy with the outcome, relaxed in it. Even though there are typos and grammatical errors, I've always been confident in communicating through the written word. My time away from my blog has been filled with paper journals, personal emails to friends and family, hand written notes and postcards. The writing never stops.
I decided to try and make my writing something more than these things. I decided to put aside my Etsy store imaginings and concentrate solely on writing, the books I'd started years ago, the scripts I'd started recently and the picture books that my imagination formulated as I began to take the process more and more seriously. For me writing sparks new ideas and new tangents...I'd never(she says now)be a writer who ran out of ideas to write about. However, the craft of sculpting and forming my ideas into a readable format for my audience is a skill, it is hard work, it is sometimes finger tapping my brain when I get stuck on a phrase or a word or a rhyme.
I have friends who write music, they are talented lyricists and writers, perhaps even more than in their performance, they are wonderful in crafting their words into melody that resonate and sticks with you. It seems so easy and natural to them and I think in many ways it is natural, it is their talent.
I honestly believe God has given me talent to write, if nothing else, I can write. I could write all day and all night, but do I get distracted from the project at hand - YES! That's why I'm blogging, getting all of this distraction and self analysation out so what I write is clear and true to the subject matter. Are there people who write better than me, yes of course, but writing isn't just grammar and sentence structure or typing in approved format, it's idea, it's dialogue, it's creating imagery and all those other things that you find it to be.
I have a good friend who writes, she is good, she is consistent too, which I aim to be! I've had almost 2 weeks off my book projects this summer and I need to kick myself into gear. The heat and schedules have made for some unstructured days and nights that have broken my flow!! You know what I mean, you other undisciplined writers!! Really there are no excuses, but I like to fester for a while and then spend a few hours hammering out all my brains has sorted through and compiled.
So there you have it, I'm on the journey to becoming a published author. If it happens I'll be most happy to bring joy to parents and children through my books, but I'd also value the kick back, not working for almost 2 years now has been a financial sadness, I cannot say struggle as God has provided for all our need and beyond! It would be nice to contribute to our household somehow, buy my husband that beach house of his dreams.
I haven't really reflected too much on this. Life in the actual world took over I suppose, moving house, again. Meeting new people, making new real world connections in the community. Having a lot of outdoor yard work to do each day. Working to heat our home with piles of firewood, gathering, staging and kindling each fire, learning the skill of not smoking out the house and looking for ways to replenish our fuel source.
Even this small change in lifestyle, from cubicle apartment life to cabin life has brought me closer to the earth. With the seasons change we planted a garden and are now reaping what we sowed....time well spent off the internet and instead of crafting indoors working the land and establishing a livable, working home out of the semi-furnished shell we've been loaned.
One of the biggest changes has been space, we have one more room for an office/nursery an extra bathroom and a lot more storage space. Although this space is filled with four peoples belongings, it is ample and has allowed us to relax into the fibers of the house. We each seep into our favorite corners when we need to reflect and regain ourselves and gather together in the very open plan central hub of the house, the large kitchen, dining and family area.
I now have my own office area, a lovely gift from my dear sweet man (although I'm cheating today and hurting my back writing from the dining table). I now have a designated keyboard spot and he has 1 1/2 man caves to litter with tools and hats and all the other random boy things that fill those spaces. Domestic life is suiting me well. I'm getting over my dislike of cooking, the summer means more staging of raw vegetables than actual cooking, which is healthy and splendid.
Moving from my new international community to a small town where the proverbial grapevine is more of a loud speaker truck that drives up and down each and every families house in town has been a challenge for me. Being British, being private, navigating new friends and people I've known for longer that are not so interested in me now I live here and I'm a fixture. My shiny new penny status wore off within a week and so I'm starting to make real friends, true friends, people who don't seem to care what I bring to the table...or even if I decide not to join in that day. In a town where being religious, reputation, how many people you know and how long you've lived in it may equal status I'm pretty low on the pole. Yes this big fish is treading water in a bigger pond, but I'm here and I'm turning surviving into thriving. Sickeningly enjoying being my husbands stay at home wife (with no kids), yes, how dare I!
After a few failed attempts at finding work here. I am trying not to be cynical about employers in the region. Instead I took a trip home, I've been offered at least 7 jobs in the last few months, but none of them US based and not one in our region. I was even offered a two year contract that came with housing and a car. My local friends must think I'm not patient enough or giving their area a chance, but the reality is that there are very few jobs here and they go to relatives or friends of the owners or current employees, not necessarily the best person for the job. The overseas job offers boosted my confidence enough to explore other options.
During my time in England I narrowed my ideas and my heart settled down into the 'me' I'd lost somewhere in relocation. I spent a few hours with one of my best friends, time with my sisters, my parents and walked around my childhood town gathering my thoughts.
One of the things I've always loved and felt confident in was writing, essays, stories, poems, even just keeping a journal. I felt happy with the outcome, relaxed in it. Even though there are typos and grammatical errors, I've always been confident in communicating through the written word. My time away from my blog has been filled with paper journals, personal emails to friends and family, hand written notes and postcards. The writing never stops.
I decided to try and make my writing something more than these things. I decided to put aside my Etsy store imaginings and concentrate solely on writing, the books I'd started years ago, the scripts I'd started recently and the picture books that my imagination formulated as I began to take the process more and more seriously. For me writing sparks new ideas and new tangents...I'd never(she says now)be a writer who ran out of ideas to write about. However, the craft of sculpting and forming my ideas into a readable format for my audience is a skill, it is hard work, it is sometimes finger tapping my brain when I get stuck on a phrase or a word or a rhyme.
I have friends who write music, they are talented lyricists and writers, perhaps even more than in their performance, they are wonderful in crafting their words into melody that resonate and sticks with you. It seems so easy and natural to them and I think in many ways it is natural, it is their talent.
I honestly believe God has given me talent to write, if nothing else, I can write. I could write all day and all night, but do I get distracted from the project at hand - YES! That's why I'm blogging, getting all of this distraction and self analysation out so what I write is clear and true to the subject matter. Are there people who write better than me, yes of course, but writing isn't just grammar and sentence structure or typing in approved format, it's idea, it's dialogue, it's creating imagery and all those other things that you find it to be.
I have a good friend who writes, she is good, she is consistent too, which I aim to be! I've had almost 2 weeks off my book projects this summer and I need to kick myself into gear. The heat and schedules have made for some unstructured days and nights that have broken my flow!! You know what I mean, you other undisciplined writers!! Really there are no excuses, but I like to fester for a while and then spend a few hours hammering out all my brains has sorted through and compiled.
So there you have it, I'm on the journey to becoming a published author. If it happens I'll be most happy to bring joy to parents and children through my books, but I'd also value the kick back, not working for almost 2 years now has been a financial sadness, I cannot say struggle as God has provided for all our need and beyond! It would be nice to contribute to our household somehow, buy my husband that beach house of his dreams.
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