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When your boss has unrealistic expectations, but the boss is you.
In late July, I set a goal for myself that I would finish the remaining 6 chapters of my memoir manuscript in the month of August. Reason? I had put it off enough, I told myself. I started out with the goal of writing this book in late January, wanting to get a full manuscript done in 3 months so I can go back to working a normal job. I hadn’t imagined that my freelance writing would take off and find an audience. I didn’t expect to find myself with more projects than I can manage. I feel extremely grateful, more professionally fulfilled than ever before. But between the speaking…
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Devouring Words
One of the greatest luxuries of writing full time is my renewed ability to devour words. When I was growing up, my nose was always in a book at the corner table of my parents’ restaurant or I’d sneak in pages in between taking orders. All the librarians knew me by name. The library had been my sanctuary. Life had temporarily taken me away from reading. My job and being a parent of a small child and the long daily commute had drained me so much each day that I told myself I had no energy or time for reading. Now, as I set my own schedule for writing, though…
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“Coming Out”
On Wednesday, May 1, 2019, I “came out” to the world about my mental health. My story, “My Mental Illness Did Not Prevent Me From Suceeding, But The Stigma Nearly Did” was published on a major outlet. I had pitched my story in early February and was over the moon when the editor responded later that month. I had been eagerly anticipating its publication ever since. There would be no turning back after this “Coming Out.” Sure, I had already told my story to my own social circles, but this was a national, even international, stage. I set out to tell my story to make myself an example, an advocate.…
