Reality Hits

So I have 2 new clients (3 really, but I’ve been pro bono with one for years, so this is no surprise), and both are writers.  Finally today I caved and told one I was a writer too.  I guess I phrased it wrong because she wrote back:

“you gave up writing because you found someting you like better.”  OUCH!  OK, now we are back to the 2 chairs theory.

The thing is, how come all the really successful people in the world do EVERYTHING they like?  And yes, I like designing, and web maintenance is actually MUCH better than design as a steady career, but writing is like…it’s like the blood in my veins, something I was born with that won’t go away.

At the risk of sounding cruel to my Down syndrome daughter, being a writer is a CONDITION.  It’s not something you can change, it’s not something you choose, it just is.  That’s how it is WITH ME.

About a million years ago, I wanted to be a singer.  I sang a lot as a kid, but I was too scared to join anything.  In high school, I joined the glee club and a band, and a week later my voice just CHANGED.  I spent the next 5 - 10 years with allergies that prevented singing.  When I was around 25, I decided to take singing lessons. This was something I wanted, but I have a bent ear canal and basically I’m tone deaf ANYWAY.

I still get a pang over singing from time to time, because really I SUCK and I could be good with daily practice of 1-2 hours and enough years.  Yea, ok.  So when I hear singers say that you need to be born with talent, it might be annoying but what they mean is that you have this gift that is more natural (than say like for me).  Not that they don’t need to practice, but it’s just inherent with them.

It’s the same with me for writing.  It’s just there.  And yea, I’ve written some sucky stuff (my blogs for example, lol).  But I practice.

And I think when you feel this way, it is your divine calling and you can’t run or hide from it.  Ideally, it would be your career but we can’t all be that lucky.