August 21, 2002
With the book proposal finished and ready to go out, I am getting back to my business of travel writing.
A lot of things (research, queries, & articles) were put on hold while the proposal was in the works. I felt like I couldn’t start or finish anything else until I finished one project. It was as though I was punishing myself work-wise by saying, “you have to finish one project before you begin the next.”
For me, this is a dangerous way of thinking as I am someone who enjoys having their hands in multiple projects. The excitement of things in the works keeps me going while concentrating on one project hours on end makes me bored and resentful.
In fact, now I’m back up to speed with a renewed sense of energy that I haven’t felt since last spring. My hands are into everything and I’ve fallen in love with my work all over again.
Being OK with how differently I do things stems from the knowledge that it works – for me. Trying to fit “regular schedules” or others’ ideas of how things are done, doesn’t. As a creative person, I thrive in the freedom I’m allowed, and when I try to take that away from myself to be normal, I begin to fail.
Since I have the freedom to work as I please, I’m going to enjoy it whether it be up until 5AM as I was this morning, or waking at 8AM to begin it all over again.
I have a lot of work to do and I’m glad of that not only because I love to work, but love what I do and the freedom I have to do it in. If I stop doing things they way I like to do them, then I’ll eventually just stop being interested in my work as I found this summer.
And there’s nothing good in that.