DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB

Finding Your Muse After Putting In A Full Day…

By Colleen Gonzalez

I am a writer. That sentence is difficult for me to type. I do not make a living as a writer, nor have I published anything you would have read. I know that what you truly are comes from within, yet it can be difficult to give ourselves a label that doesn’t put food on our tables.

Currently, I have what would be defined as a “real job.” I work in an office Monday through Friday. I’m a paper-pusher and my job has no creativity to it. Everything needs to be done a certain way, accurately, timely, day in and day out. I fell into this job because I needed to earn a living and I never had enough confidence in my creative abilities to just GO FOR IT!

I’m sure this rings true for many of you out there. Over time though, it gets increasingly difficult to deny our true calling. Some people wake up one day and walk away from it all. Others have mid-life crises. I hope to take a different, more constructive journey and I hope you will follow me.

Most days, I can’t imagine that I can have one more thing on my plate. The responsibilities as a wife, mother, employee, take up so much of my time and zap all of my creative juices. Still, I’ve decided that I can no longer let time pass me by. I have vowed to learn how to feed my muse on a daily basis.

So, even if I have piles of laundry, dishes in the sink and a floor you probably shouldn’t eat off of, I will find a way to put my butt in the chair each day and write. I’m currently working on a novelization of my childhood pet, starting a website/blog and writing essays for possible publication.

Time is a constant challenge for me. I would never describe myself as a “high energy” person. I also tend to take the safe road. With these personality realizations, I’m not going to drastically change my life. I have responsibilities to my family that I can’t put aside to pursue my dreams full time. So, it comes down to finding a way to put another thing on my plate. At this time in my life success equates to feeling confident when I say…I Am A Writer!