Three weeks ago, I left my job as a teacher.
It was a terrifying moment, even if I had known it was coming from a long ways off. Due to the pandemic, the English language school I worked for had switched to online classes. When the COVID provisions were removed, students and teachers had no choice but to return to the classroom. During those long three years, however, my partner and I purchased a house and moved two hours away--too far away to commute every day. Knowing my time as a teacher was limited, I began saving money with the intention of shifting the direction of my life.
Before that, I needed to decide what that new direction would be. There were several paths before me. As a former English teacher, I'm well-equipped to start my own online tutoring business. I also have access to a large customer pool from those years of teaching. On the other hand, I have been building a network of creators using the community platform, Discord, for the past several months. The community is doing well, so focusing on collaboration and pumping out projects could lead to amazing places. However, I decided both of these could wait in favor of a third option.
Ever since I was young, I have dreamed of becoming a published author. Each November I'd watch the days go by, loathed I wasn't writing. Every holiday, I'd squeeze out as many words as I had energy for. I craved the freedom to pour my soul into my stories, but I'd had a job since I was fifteen and no amount of working ever left me with enough money to take time off, especially the sort of time I'd need to write a 90k word romance novel. I realized I may not get another opportunity to focus solely on my writing like this for a long time, and three months would be more than enough time.
It took several days for me to get up the courage to ask my partner if he would be okay with me taking 3 whole months off work, but as always, he was supportive and encouraging. I'm two weeks into focusing full-time on my novel, and I'm so pleased with the changes I've been able to make. I'm still trying to find the perfect routine, but I've been able to get better sleep, focus on self-care, and do more around the house in addition to writing 3 chapters for a total of 12,396 words.
While I am worried about finances and not having an income, I choose to trust the process every day. No matter what happens, I am proud to have taken the leap to trust in myself.
Only time will tell if I've chosen the right path. In the meantime, I'm determined to ride this wave for as long as I can.
Until next time,
Maurlfox
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