So, since we’re finally in the new year, and I’ve mentioned a few times how I’ve been looking toward the future, it turns out that now is the perfect time to start making some strategies for how I’m going to live my life now that 2022 is upon us. 2022 is a huge year, I think for all of us, especially if we can manage to end the pandemic. But even if we don’t, this is my last year of school.
I have to admit I’ve been struggling with how I want to live my life post-school for a while now. When I originally decided to go back to school, I had a pretty solid strategy. I was going to basically do the same job I already did, but for more money.
However, as the time gets closer to that moment in which I should actually start looking for the new job, I’ve realized that I’d like a little bit more than just doing the same thing for more money. I’d really like to do something that means something to me. And I’d like to work for a company I can believe in. And so, although I’m still at least six months away from getting that piece of paper that I’ve been working for, I’ve decided to start formulating an actual list of places (or types of places) I’d like to work for and getting together some ideas for what exactly I’d like to be doing.
You know, like actual students do, I guess.
But you don’t really care about that. You’re here because of the writing. And, I’ll be honest, I’ve spent far more time thinking about my writing than I have about my schooling when it comes to thinking about the future. After taking the past few years off from writing, I’ll admit it has been a bit of a struggle to get back into the swing of things. While I definitely worked really hard on getting together a final draft for my newest book Moonshine Monarchy, I’ve also been finding it hard to work on any new books. Part of that is because of things like working on the plays I’ve been writing, and trying to figure out what I want to do with the blog space, as well as things like simply trying to fit all of this in between school and work and life. But, the bottom line is, I haven’t done nearly as much writing as I would like.
And a part of that is because I really don’t know what to do with my writing any longer. After spending some time trying to actually sell Moonshine Monarchy to an agent, I realized that the whole process of selling myself as an author is mostly a waste of my time. While I’d love to put my time and energy into developing and implementing a marketing strategy (something I’ve definitely spent more than a little time working on over these past few months), the truth is, all this does is take me away from putting words to paper. And, while I’d love to find more readers, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d rather spend my time writing than trying to convince people to read my books.
Which means, I’m also in the midst of reconfiguring my life around my writing. While I like having this blog space here, it is also something that takes me away from doing as much other creative writing as I would like to do. I don’t want to drop this space quite yet, but it’s possible that things might change here in the coming months as well.
Because, well, we’re on to a new year, and this new year feels somewhat momentous. Fauci is even saying that we might be months away from finishing this damned pandemic. Maybe we should all be looking toward the latter half of this year as a time of new beginnings, of reemergence…of redefining who we are and how we fit in this world again.
I know that I, at the very least, am going to struggle remembering what it is I used to do with free time when the world isn’t quite as infectious once again.
Adam Oster: Unfocused Creative 