Dirtbag Writer

3 Months of Self-Indulgent Bliss

Posted on 01. Dec, 2009 by Writer in On Writing

I absolutely can’t believe it has been 3 months since I left the security of cush cubicle life and as I glance back at the goals I set for myself for the first 3-months of my life as a freelance writer I see how little I have accomplished. In short, I was overwhelmed and completely stoked by my new found freedom – kind of like one of those kids in college that came from a very strict home and turn into the craziest partiers in the dorm within the first week of school. Unlike crazy college kid I hope I settle in and don’t flunk myself out of life.

And instead of beating myself up like I usually do I am going to try and focus in on all the positives and mini accomplishments of these past few months. Although I didn’t meet nearly all of my goals, my accomplishments were more personal in nature – a bit of rediscovering and redefining myself outside of the comforts of home, relationships, and a job and financial security.

So how did I spend these last 3-months…

• Successfully completed an internship with Trail Runner magazine – see my byline in the February 2010 issue.
• Had a blast living in cute little hippy dip town Colorado.
• Made my life list and starting to think about how to check off a few of these – started knitting again, almost ready to commit to an ultramarathon in Moab this February, and finally bought a decent sized bookshelf (now I just need the ladder).
• Spent many weekends partying down in the desert.
• Scored a sweet gig writing about Salt Lake and Park City with the NileGuide folk.
• Reconnected and visited with many friends and family. Had an amazing time at the City Museum in St. Louis and a wonderful family visit in Colorado.
• Completed the Matador U course and made many great connections and got oh so inspired by the other amazing students and teachers.
• Didn’t completely drain my allotted savings (although close).
• Almost kept to my goal of one query letter a week and even had one publisher like my idea.
• Learned a ton about social networking, online writing, journalism, querying, and the whole freelance writing world in general.

Well where to next?  Some new goals need to be set and I need to work a little harder at reaching them this time around.  I also need to figure out some ways to maintain the stoke after returning home from nearly 3 months of adventure.  I think I am going to start out by feng-suing the hell out of my place and creating some work space.

Tags: Goals