Right Livelihood

I struggled a lot with the question of what to do with my life. Somehow, nothing ever seemed quite right. Nothing ever seemed like quite enough. I went back to school and got another degree; my career still wasn't quite right. Finally, I stopped trying. I stopped seeking the elusive important, fulfilling, and meaningful career. (I decided to spend some time pursuing the less elusive important, fulfilling, and meaningful career of parenthood.)

Eventually, I started contemplating how I could augment the household income. I would get an idea, I would contemplate it. If it seemed feasible, I would start thinking through details. Eventually, I always ended up somewhere I didn't want to be. That “somewhere I didn't want to be” generally was some variation on high child care costs (low real net income) and the realization that I really wanted to be with my kids. And I didn't want to be inputting medical record data or running a multi-level sales scheme when my kids were crying because they wanted my attention.

I used to say that I didn't like to read and I didn't like to write. I finally realized that I didn't like reading academic journals and I didn't like writing research papers. I've always written in journals, but somehow that didn't feel like real writing. Writing about my life and experience is easy; it's fun. It's not real work. It hadn't occurred to me that people might like to read what I write. It's just my life after all. Wasn't it rather egocentric of me to think anyone else cared?

A friend of mine had a friend who was starting a writer's group. There are a couple of books I've written parts of (essays about my life), so I thought I would check it out. I eventually realized that, even before I complete a book, it would be useful to start getting things published in magazines.

Then it clicked: The type of writing that I like to do, the fun, easy, sometimes humorous writing that I like to do, is well-suited to magazine articles.

I started flipping through magazines and got lots of ideas for articles I could write that would fit right in. I got a copy of Writer's Market and saw that some periodicals pay decent money for articles. I started learning how to prepare articles for submission.

I was thinking that this could be a workable way to supplement the family income while the kids are small, but I then realized it's more than that. I realized that I had stumbled upon the important, meaningful, and fulfilling career I had been seeking for so long.

If I write about my life in a readable and humorous way, people might feel less alone and frustrated in their lives. If I write about causes that are important to me in a readable and humorous way, I might inspire other to act. I will change the world, one article at a time. What could be more important, fulfilling, and meaningful than that?

The pen is mightier than the sword.