Going All In on Your Creative Pursuits

Image by Millo Lin

In the months leading up to my layoff last spring, I experienced a crisis of values. Let's call it a mid-life awakening. I realized that I hadn't prioritized the things that mattered to me--not to the extent I wanted to, anyway. As a single woman, living on my own earnings, I'd pursued financial stability at the expense of a richer life. What was initially profound relief and even pride at going it on my own eventually turned into dissatisfaction.

What do I mean? I'd let work become my religion. I spent eight or more hours a day shoring up a corporation's earnings. And there's nothing wrong with that, particularly, except that I realized--and was finally brave enough to accept--that it wasn't how I wanted to live my life.

Weeks before I lost my job, I decided to center my life on creativity--specifically writing, books, and stories. These things would no longer be a hobby on the side but my purpose: the thing that I got up to do each day and which (because we live in the world we live in) put a few dollars in my pocket. But, I’ll be honest, while I still had my job I didn’t feel brave enough to make the full leap to this creatively centered life. It felt bold and financially precarious.

Now that I’m on the other side of it, I'm here to tell you that it is right to prioritize creative pursuits. I wish I had been brave enough to do it long ago. Dedicating my remaining time on earth to selling books, talking about books, reading books, and helping people write them is arriving at a destiny I wasn't sure I'd ever reach.

Do you find yourself thinking, "I wish I could [insert your big dream] but [insert practical reason why you can't]"? I hope you'll take this as your sign to go for it. Once you take the bold step it's amazing how those practical concerns fade.