Lessons Long in the Learning
After a year in Charleston, the journey continues.
My internship with the Ports Authority went nowhere, and I was fortunate enough to get laid off from my job reading meters; otherwise I would have kept reading and kept "looking" around here without, I suspect, much luck. Now, I migrate to Columbia to live with my brother and continue my search in higher altitudes. It will be cheaper staying with John, although the prospect of sharing a house with him doesn't exactly thrill me. Still, beggars can't be choosers, and being exempt from paying rent is worth a few doubts.
I have learned a lot down here, mainly about myself. I've learned that I have a problem with assertiveness that I still need to address, and that, given the chance, will lapse into complacentcy. I've learned that real life is harder, crueler, and more boring than I had previously believed. I've also learned that I'm the only one who can make something of my life, so I'd better get busy getting... well, busy.
My plan, such as it is, is to go to Midlands Tech in the Spring to pursue a degree in Information Technology. My thinking was that, since I like computers so much, learning more about them for a future job only made sense. I dunno. Like almost everything else in my life, I am consumed with doubt. Part of me would like a career as a copywriter, but I'm not sure how to turn the few freelance jobs I've done into a salaried (or consistently paid, at least) job. Maybe I just need to work up the courage and call some companies.
With all the time I've had recently, I've come to realize just how desperately fear and doubt grip my soul. I have been tasked by Kaysha to write a comic script for her, and though I've written down the rough draft, I have trouble bringing myself to revise it into something worth reading. In the same way, I find it hard to bring myself to start on a story idea I had while talking to Kaysha on the phone not long ago. Whenever I imagine myself sitting before the screen of my laptop, hands on keys, my inner critic rises up in vile joy, voice dripping the poison I drink like wine. I struggle to find pleasure in creative acts like writing, drawing, or sculpting and can't help but wonder how common my battle is.
I finished watching the anime Fruits Basket today, and found it insanely cute. I've been wanting to watch it for some time and was glad to find that it didn't disappoint.
Oh, yes, for all of you in Asheville area, do please begin plotting something for Kaa-san's birthday two weeks from now. I'll be coming up for it, and it'd be great if all of us could do something fun and shameless.
In addition, it looks like the annual Charlotte Renn Faire outing will be taking place on the first weekend in November, with Kaysha and I joining my friends from Charleston and possibly Jeromie and Liz. Any other interested parties feel free to participate. But be prepared for group shanties.
Twilight out.
My internship with the Ports Authority went nowhere, and I was fortunate enough to get laid off from my job reading meters; otherwise I would have kept reading and kept "looking" around here without, I suspect, much luck. Now, I migrate to Columbia to live with my brother and continue my search in higher altitudes. It will be cheaper staying with John, although the prospect of sharing a house with him doesn't exactly thrill me. Still, beggars can't be choosers, and being exempt from paying rent is worth a few doubts.
I have learned a lot down here, mainly about myself. I've learned that I have a problem with assertiveness that I still need to address, and that, given the chance, will lapse into complacentcy. I've learned that real life is harder, crueler, and more boring than I had previously believed. I've also learned that I'm the only one who can make something of my life, so I'd better get busy getting... well, busy.
My plan, such as it is, is to go to Midlands Tech in the Spring to pursue a degree in Information Technology. My thinking was that, since I like computers so much, learning more about them for a future job only made sense. I dunno. Like almost everything else in my life, I am consumed with doubt. Part of me would like a career as a copywriter, but I'm not sure how to turn the few freelance jobs I've done into a salaried (or consistently paid, at least) job. Maybe I just need to work up the courage and call some companies.
With all the time I've had recently, I've come to realize just how desperately fear and doubt grip my soul. I have been tasked by Kaysha to write a comic script for her, and though I've written down the rough draft, I have trouble bringing myself to revise it into something worth reading. In the same way, I find it hard to bring myself to start on a story idea I had while talking to Kaysha on the phone not long ago. Whenever I imagine myself sitting before the screen of my laptop, hands on keys, my inner critic rises up in vile joy, voice dripping the poison I drink like wine. I struggle to find pleasure in creative acts like writing, drawing, or sculpting and can't help but wonder how common my battle is.
I finished watching the anime Fruits Basket today, and found it insanely cute. I've been wanting to watch it for some time and was glad to find that it didn't disappoint.
Oh, yes, for all of you in Asheville area, do please begin plotting something for Kaa-san's birthday two weeks from now. I'll be coming up for it, and it'd be great if all of us could do something fun and shameless.
In addition, it looks like the annual Charlotte Renn Faire outing will be taking place on the first weekend in November, with Kaysha and I joining my friends from Charleston and possibly Jeromie and Liz. Any other interested parties feel free to participate. But be prepared for group shanties.
Twilight out.
posted by Aisyrn | 11:37 PM
3 Comments:
Will,
If you haven't lost your drive for things IT related, let me assure you that it is an easy way to make a living - compared to the route which you seem to desperate to take. (ie: editor, writer, etc). Let those things come after you've made your money in the IT world.
Let me caveat my use of 'easy' by saying that of course, like any profession, there is a certain amount of challenge involved. However, I have seen firsthand, those people who handle themselves convincingly with a webpage, unix, random programming language, routers, etc, get hired.
I'm going to make the unqualified statement that I think the Midlands Tech idea is a good one. You can get exposure to the broad field that is IT relatively quickly and then determine if any particular path is right for you.
A word of advice - if you're serious about the IT world, try to choose within a year whether you want to focus on networking, system administration, or programming/databases. They each serve very specialized purposes and are truly three separate paths.
anyways, good luck living with John. Tell him hi when you get the chance.
Good luck and best wishes with the new direction.
I struggle with the inner critic when I write creatively too. It seems to be a very common problem. The only way to improve is to just put the words down. Tell yourself you can always revise it later. As for actually revising, I never do. What I probably should do is wait until I have a finished first draft (something rare for me) and then share it with friends or a writing group. I have seen ads for writing groups on craigslist and at the Charleston library website. I'm just not productive enough yet for them to be useful to me.
Yes, it helps to choose a specialty quickly as Keith says, but if you enjoy multiple things don't worry too much, there's a good bit of overlap in my experience. I've done all 3 roles he mentions without ever switching jobs, and I'm where I am because I have a unique blend of networking and programming. It just took me 8 years of school and work to get here.
One direction you may consider in the future... there are quite a few positions for technical writers here in Charleston. The contractors here always need someone to edit and wordsmith the documents produced by engineers who don't communicate well on their own. Someone who can write effectively, is technically literate enough to communicate with the engineers (even at a basic level- you don't have to understand everything you write), and knows the ins and outs of Word (auto-generated table of contents, for example) can find a spot here.
So, how are things going? It's about time for your monthly update. :-)
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