15 Jan Thursday

Thursday is quit day. Because life is too short to keep doing things that you don’t want to or need to do.

Could be something small. Quit having sugar in your tea. Quit biting your nails.

Could be something big. Quit feeling guilty about every single little thing. Quit being tough on yourself. Quit being cautious. Quit your job.

Quit doing something that takes up precious time or energy and serves no good purpose.

Quit procrastinating with the mundane.*

I quit something today. Well officially, i didn’t quit it, I turned it down.

As a freelancer I have this continual fight with thinking that if i turn down a piece of work then whoever offered it to me will never ask again. The phone will never ring again email will never ping again. (Maybe today I quit believing this thought).

I have turned down this job not because it is not a good job. It is a piece of work I would have enjoyed and the pay wasn’t bad.

I turned it down because it is not the right thing to be doing right now.

I have realised that if i always take work as it appears (usually the lot of the freelancer) then i am only ever responding to what other people chose to offer me.

Reacting.

(And as a disclaimer – this is often great, fulfilling work – the ‘right’ work for that season/month/year.)

But now I want to be creating. Making something that nobody could ask me to do, because it only exists in my head.

I want to risk failure and try and make the work that has been in the back of my mind for a number of years now. Work which circumstances (practical and emotional, within my control and way beyond it) have not enabled me to do… until now.

The first blog i ever wrote, over a year ago, was about being brave enough to fail (you can read it here).

I’m ready for that again.

Dreaming. Risking… and potentially failing.

At the top of our house I have annexed a space. It is part room-for-dreaming-and-working and part junk-room-where-all-the-crap-gets-put, but i love it (no children or husband allowed). Above my little desk is a quote:

Im not sure i entirely agree with this, but i like the sentiment. Time to start making again.

So, it’s Thursday, it’s quit day. Are you going to quit anything today?

*unfortunately washing still has to be done. But, on the positive side, ironing doesn’t.