When I was twenty, a journalism professor gave me some of the best career advice I’ve ever received: “You’re the belle of the ball. Dance with everyone.” He meant, “If an opportunity comes up, you take it.” When it comes to your job, take every opportunity you’re given.
And I have. And you know what? It’s served me well in the years since then. So well, in fact, that (*knock wood*) I’m finally in a position I never thought I’d be in. The position to say, “No, I’m gonna sit this one out.” I never thought that day would arrive.
For the time being, I’m putting my teaching career on hold. (For those of you who don’t know, I have taught an advanced PR writing course at a university for the last few years.) I finally told the department yesterday that I wouldn’t be teaching in the spring. This decision has been weighing on me for a while now. I’m making serious progress in my fiction writing career. I’m finding my voice as a blogger, my footing as a social-media user, and revising a few manuscripts to query. I have a plan, specific goals, and a path. And I’m really, really freakin’ happy about it.
But I had arrived at the point where I was dancing the tarantella instead of waltzing. And long-term tarantella is bad on the body, the mind, and the soul. My brain was turning to mush, which was killing my creativity and taking a toll on my health.
That’s not to say I’ll never teach again. I’m fairly certain that I will, because I consider teaching to be a very fulfilling vocation. Saying no to teaching—even temporarily—was a difficult choice. It’s a short-term sacrifice for a lifelong dream and long-term goal: pursuing my writing career. But there will be other dances.
I can’t help but feel that I’m setting out on a new path, starting a new chapter in my career. New chapters are scary, but also exciting. And I’m excited to see what words I will pen—and oh, yes, the places I will go.
Thanks to all my blogging buddies, Twitter peeps, and Team WANA1011 for sharing your writing experiences, thus helping me screw my courage to the sticking place and make this decision. Y’all rock! 🙂 (And yes, I went from Seuss to Shakespeare in under 10 seconds. Is that a record?)
Have you ever reached such a turning point in your career? What big decisions have you made in order to follow your dreams?
Denise Young (a.k.a. Janelle Madigan) 
I read a great quote today, Janelle. It said: “Metamorphosis feels like death to the caterpillar, but it’s birth to the butterfly.” May it be thus for your Big Decision, too!
I like it. That’s very sweet. Thanks, Diane!
Janelle, I do understand. In 2009 I experienced a life-change that has proved very beneficial. For fifteen years I had worked as an administrative assistant supporting 5 senior executives with a large construction/development/management corporation and teaching a few classes at a community college at night. I was downsized in April 2009. By September I had accepted an faculty position teaching on-line composition and communication classes. I simplified my life, trimmed my budget and set up a business–teaching, copy-editing, and most important, writing. I published my first novel in paperback and Ebook last July. Now I’m knee-deep in social media.
I’ve never been happier.
Sharon
Sharon, that is great news! I can’t imagine how hard it is to lose your job, but I’m so happy that you were able to take an event like that and turn it into something wonderful. Perhaps taking the road less traveled by really does make all the difference. 🙂
I think my choices have been a series of little ones leading me toward my goal of being an author who earns a living.
Though recently we moved 4 hours closer to where I grew up for several reasons, but it was a difficult choice as our daughter spent her entire 9 years in the same city. We were taking her away from her friends. Jobs are more plentiful here and we can own a house someday. Where we lived it was not possible.
Here is to hoping your writing will take flight. 🙂
Yeah, moving would be a hard decision. My husband and I have entertained the idea of moving somewhere else someday, but Virginia is home for now. My husband’s family moved when he was 9, from a farm in a very rural region to a house in a larger city. I know it was a hard adjustment for him, but it afforded him a lot of opportunities he wouldn’t have had otherwise–and we probably wouldn’t have met otherwise! So in the long run, it worked out. I hope it’s working out for you and your family, too.
Thanks! You know, I think my writing dream will soon start to unfurl its brightly colored wings. 🙂