Today was the first day of a new chapter in my career. Yesterday was the last day in the job as I’ve known it for a decade. I quit my day job to devote the bulk of my time to my writing.
This decision comes after many months of self-reflection. I’ve been asking myself questions like: What do I really want to do? What does success look like to me? These questions as opposed to: What do I feel obligated to do? Or, am I meeting academia’s definition of success?
After all this reflection, the only thing I’ve had an Oprah “what I know for sure” moment about is the writing. There’s a least another book, maybe two, and a bunch of short stories and essays rolling around in my head. I feel compelled to put them on paper.
My first book was mostly written between 4 and 6 AM, while I held down a day job and maintained a family life (that included a teenager). I haven’t seen 4AM on purpose since that book was accepted for publication. To paraphrase Danny Glover’s Lethal Weapon tagline: I’m too old for that shit!
Thankfully, I have the love and support of my hubby Robert Phillips to be in a position where I can spend most of my time trying to achieve success as I define it. I’m not exactly sure what the next pages will read. I’m excited and a bit nervous. But one more thing I know for sure: If I ultimately face plant with my writing, I can always just go be a doctor somewhere to pay the mortgage. And not just any doctor. I can be the nephrologist!