In the course of 24 hours, I lost one of my two major freelance writing/editing clients, and then decided to drop the other one as well. It made sense to drop out entirely, because my husband’s design studio (CutterAgent.com) is really taking off. He had been watching the kids in the morning for two days a week so I could write, but he could really use the extra 10 hours in the studio each week. So while my monthly income is now $0, we expect that Rob’s company will make up for that in the coming months. Still, it’s a big lifestyle change for me. I’ve been writing for these same two clients for the better part of ten years. Losing one and deciding to put an end to the other was a huge deal for me.
But I really wasn’t holding life together very well anymore. In a nutshell, I have been pulled in too many different directions at once. I’ve been one stressed-out mama. I have been burning the candle at both ends for quite some time, and not taking care of myself at all. I’ve had no margin, no buffer zone. Now I do. In fact, the more I think about this big change in my life, the more I think, “Hey, I got a promotion!” And I’m serious. I did lose some predictable monthly income, but here’s what I gained instead:
- The ability to be more focused on the writing that I want to do, not just the writing that brings home the bacon. This means I have a little more time to dedicate to FaithDeployed.com, and to the online magazine of Christian Military Wives, which will launch Sept. 1. All those hours of work are on a volunteer basis, but it’s what I care about. I am blessed to be able to do what I love!
- Some breathing room in my poor little brain! I have literally been “on deadline” for seven years for one client or another, constantly. Now that I’m not, I have time to think more about managing my home, my family, my own food and finances.
- Space and time to actually enjoy my kids, and not to always be wondering if I can sneak online and get some work done while they play or watch TV. This is my daughter’s last year before Kindergarten, and I really do not want to let it fly by while chasing deadlines. Now, that won’t be a problem!
Here’s how my big change affects my Faith Deployed blog readers/Facebook fans. I’m going to plug in all my blog posts for the week on the Sunday before the week begins. They will automatically go live each morning that I’ve scheduled them to do so. I will still try to get online and post a link on Facebook to the blog post like I’ve been doing for the last 13 months, but some days, I might just be too busy with my kids to get on the computer at the right time (what a switch that will be!). So now you know what’s going on- and if you really don’t want to miss a post, go ahead and subscribe to the blog feed. (The link is up in the right hand corner of www.faithdeployed.com.)
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