With just 11 more days till the turn of the year (and
beyond! No, I do not think the world
will end tomorrow; lol), I plan to spend the time continuing with what I have
been doing over the last month or so: Re-aligning my vibration to attract the focus,
physical flexibility and abundance I’ve decided, once and for all, I need and
want. As I near the end of the fourth
decade of life, I’m getting a bit tired of living on the edge. Really.
The end of November was quite confronting. I sat down with the husband and looked at my
actual income flow for 2012. As busy as
I have been with performing (as The Percussion Lady, Golda Meir and acting gigs)—the
most I have ever been since I embarked on this life path—I have not brought in
enough income to meet my minimal monthly budgetary needs. For most of 2012, I’ve been about $200 behind
every month. No wonder I have felt like
a hamster on a wheel in terms of financial stability! Wow. Confronting. That’s why I’ve taken time off these past
four weeks from my regular acting workshop and Taiko drumming classes to
reevaluate and refocus.
So this is the plan:
Submit to commercial writing gigs. I have resisted this idea in the past,
because it didn’t seem perfectly creative to me. But the idea has stayed with me since
September 2011 when I took a Denver
Woman's Press Club workshop on
the financial viability of commercial writing.
I felt intrigued. I have taught
formal writing on the college level, and I have good solid skills. Additionally, I have the experience and a
Masters degree Education with a focus on adult education/instructional design. Why not take advantage of these skills—on my
own terms, as a freelancer—and make some decent coin? So, since Thanksgiving I’ve been submitting
for commercial and educational writing gigs, and I’m developing a WIX site
specifically geared to writing. And just
yesterday, I snail mailed back a signed contract with an educational publishing
contractor; I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed that I will attract
substantive work soon.
Continue with my creative writing efforts: contribute to this blog and my cat blog
regularly. I’m pleased to have just
posted my final kitty essay for 2012: http://lifelessonsfromlumpsoflove.wordpress.com/2012/12/19/turn-turn-turn/. In
addition, I will look into turning my now 25 posts into an eBook; working
title: Life Lessons from Lumps of
Love: Essays and Musings About Life and
Living I’ve Gleaned From my Cats—Volume 1.
I might shorten the title, but I do love alliteration…
Continue to hone my marketing efforts for acting, percussion
lady and Golda Meir. These are good
sources of income, but I will only accept terms that align with who I am as a
person and performer. This year has
taught me that quality as well as quantity counts.
Resume a regular yoga practice. Last winter I took a tumble on black ice. I fell forward this time (usually I fall back
on the butt). For a good part of 2012 I’ve
been out of whack with my hips and pelvis, resulting in my right leg extending
longer than my life (I’m sure there is a medical/physical therapy term for
this) and a slight limp. But even more
distressing, I’ve had pain in my hips, thighs and knees and thereby have not
been able to fully engage in the walking and hiking that I love without
chomping on ibuprofen. (Interestingly enough,
I feel nearly no discomfort swimming and bicycling.) But I was able to swing (one
bill just waited to be paid) one physical therapy session in September, and the
exercises that I’ve been taught have been helping. Then just last week I decided to add some standard
yoga poses (like warrior two and triangle) to my routine, and I have felt a significant
difference in a mere seven days! So,
2013, I will return to the Iyengar Yoga Center Denver for weekly classes.
And, finally: to resume my participation in the drumming and
acting I love. As I emphasized to the
spouse last evening: it’s through these
efforts that I engage my creative reservoir.
Everything flows from my
connection to this source of energy and love.
