I can't believe that it's been a month since I last posted here. Apologies to anyone who actually follows my blog. I've been struggling with different impulses over the last month. When I last wrote I had figured out that I wanted to go into I/O Psychology, and that is still something that I want to do. But then I hit a snag with my pursuit of that path; namely, that I'm not sure if I/O Psych is the only discipline that could lead me into consulting and career coaching. I decided to do a little research and networking and figure out if I/O Psych was the only way or if there are other paths that might be more suitable for me.
Next thing I know, I got completely distracted trying to fix my work schedule and trying to use up some Groupons that were about to expire. Way to go, Procrastinator Me at her best. Turns out, I still haven't used the Groupons and when I finally got my October schedule figured out, my November schedule came out and now I have that to fix. In the meantime, I started thinking of all the things that still itch me to get into. You know, the things that aren't practical, but are so very tempting to me: writing and photography.
I was daydreaming about them mostly, but when my sister saw one of my photos blown up on a gallery wrapped canvas and asked me why I wasn't making a business out of it, I didn't really have a good answer except to admit that I was scared that I don't even know where to start doing that and mostly I was afraid that I would fail. There are so many great photographers out there who have taken classes and own fancy cameras; how can I even pretend to compete with them?
A few days later, speaking with a friend's sister who is an artist got me thinking about a short story that I never finished writing. If I just sat down and pushed through and finished it, she could do some awesome illustrations for it. And then I had an idea for another story that could probably grow into a novel. Just a few days after that I found out that tomorrow marks the beginning of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and decided to just jump into the deep end of the pool, head first, and take part in the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel entirely during the month of November. Thankfully, it'll only be a rough draft, but even that will be a challenge to complete while flying and doing all the Thanksgiving rounds. I'm definitely nervous and wondering if I'm way over my head, but I've never written a novel before, always wanted to, and if all the other people that do this every November can write 50,000 words, why can't I?
So, now, thanks to my impulses, I'm writing a novel in November, trying to take dance classes to use up my Groupon in December, and at some point I'm signed up to do a 34-week virtual retreat. This doesn't even include the task of figuring out how to market my photography, trying to take a photography class, working on my career research (that for the moment is on pause), or finishing up the children's story that I mentioned earlier in this post.
About those impulses, my biggest two qualms are that I could fail and that they could just be distractions. Tackling failure for just a moment, it is probably our biggest fear in any task we take on in life. Think about how parents fear that they will fail to raise their children the right way, or the way that some people never seem to open a cookbook and turn on the stove for fear that they will fail and their meal will taste terrible. The fear of failure stares us in the face from every direction we turn towards. But, you can't gain anything without risking something, and no matter what else you risk, failure is always part of that. You can't gain anything without possibly failing, and we learn from our failures, which means that the more failures we have, the more chances of gaining something we have had and the more chances to succeed thanks to the lessons we've learned we will have.
On the topic of distraction, I'm really not sure whether all of these impulses that come up and take over my attention are just distractions from my original purpose, or subconscious reminders that there are other things that, no matter how impractical, I really want to explore and pursue. When I realized that I'd put the serious career project on hold for my writing and photography impulses, I felt guilty. I felt like I had no follow through. As I pondered the situation further, I realized that writing and photography have always been a part of who I am and probably will always be part of who I am. They are ingrained in my genetic code and flow through my body like the blood through my veins. Even when I came upon psychology as a possible career path, I was excited thinking that taking some psychology classes could also help me build better characters in my writing. This all leads me to think that, as impractical as writing and photography are to pursue as careers, maybe they do lie in my personal career path after all.
So, here I am, taking a break from what I will call the "serious" career project and launching on what I think is a necessary pursuit of my writing and photography. If I never give them a serious chance, I will regret it and I don't believe in living with regrets.
What do you think? Is there something that everyone has always told you can only be a hobby that you really have an urge to pursue more seriously? Have you made a career out of something impractical or unusual? If so, please share a comment.
Next thing I know, I got completely distracted trying to fix my work schedule and trying to use up some Groupons that were about to expire. Way to go, Procrastinator Me at her best. Turns out, I still haven't used the Groupons and when I finally got my October schedule figured out, my November schedule came out and now I have that to fix. In the meantime, I started thinking of all the things that still itch me to get into. You know, the things that aren't practical, but are so very tempting to me: writing and photography.
I was daydreaming about them mostly, but when my sister saw one of my photos blown up on a gallery wrapped canvas and asked me why I wasn't making a business out of it, I didn't really have a good answer except to admit that I was scared that I don't even know where to start doing that and mostly I was afraid that I would fail. There are so many great photographers out there who have taken classes and own fancy cameras; how can I even pretend to compete with them?
A few days later, speaking with a friend's sister who is an artist got me thinking about a short story that I never finished writing. If I just sat down and pushed through and finished it, she could do some awesome illustrations for it. And then I had an idea for another story that could probably grow into a novel. Just a few days after that I found out that tomorrow marks the beginning of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and decided to just jump into the deep end of the pool, head first, and take part in the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel entirely during the month of November. Thankfully, it'll only be a rough draft, but even that will be a challenge to complete while flying and doing all the Thanksgiving rounds. I'm definitely nervous and wondering if I'm way over my head, but I've never written a novel before, always wanted to, and if all the other people that do this every November can write 50,000 words, why can't I?
So, now, thanks to my impulses, I'm writing a novel in November, trying to take dance classes to use up my Groupon in December, and at some point I'm signed up to do a 34-week virtual retreat. This doesn't even include the task of figuring out how to market my photography, trying to take a photography class, working on my career research (that for the moment is on pause), or finishing up the children's story that I mentioned earlier in this post.
About those impulses, my biggest two qualms are that I could fail and that they could just be distractions. Tackling failure for just a moment, it is probably our biggest fear in any task we take on in life. Think about how parents fear that they will fail to raise their children the right way, or the way that some people never seem to open a cookbook and turn on the stove for fear that they will fail and their meal will taste terrible. The fear of failure stares us in the face from every direction we turn towards. But, you can't gain anything without risking something, and no matter what else you risk, failure is always part of that. You can't gain anything without possibly failing, and we learn from our failures, which means that the more failures we have, the more chances of gaining something we have had and the more chances to succeed thanks to the lessons we've learned we will have.
On the topic of distraction, I'm really not sure whether all of these impulses that come up and take over my attention are just distractions from my original purpose, or subconscious reminders that there are other things that, no matter how impractical, I really want to explore and pursue. When I realized that I'd put the serious career project on hold for my writing and photography impulses, I felt guilty. I felt like I had no follow through. As I pondered the situation further, I realized that writing and photography have always been a part of who I am and probably will always be part of who I am. They are ingrained in my genetic code and flow through my body like the blood through my veins. Even when I came upon psychology as a possible career path, I was excited thinking that taking some psychology classes could also help me build better characters in my writing. This all leads me to think that, as impractical as writing and photography are to pursue as careers, maybe they do lie in my personal career path after all.
So, here I am, taking a break from what I will call the "serious" career project and launching on what I think is a necessary pursuit of my writing and photography. If I never give them a serious chance, I will regret it and I don't believe in living with regrets.
What do you think? Is there something that everyone has always told you can only be a hobby that you really have an urge to pursue more seriously? Have you made a career out of something impractical or unusual? If so, please share a comment.
