Jump on the Soul Train

It’s been about three weeks since I last posted on my blog and there are really no excuses.  No justifications.  I’ve been busy, and writing took a backseat. Sounds a little crazy, given that writing is the same as breathing for me. However, in order to write well one must live well. We do write what we know, after all. Sometimes life is less about pondering and scribbling and more about engaging and living. This has been my focus for the last fortnight and a half: engagement.

With that said, a lot of changes have occurred since we last shot the breeze.  You may or may not know that I work for a law firm as a Paralegal. I am also a writer (obviously), and a Top Notch Creator. I have a lot of different interests, but the endless cycle of 9 - 5 has really begun to take its toll on me. Add to it, the fact that I am sick of working in the legal field, and you’ve got yourself a Toxic Cocktail with a multitude of dream-killing side effects.

WARNING: Day job may cause inordinate amounts of stress, fatigue, heart palpitations, and occasional bad breath. Strong and sometimes fatal reactions occur when combined with personal dreams, creation, or any entrepreneurial endeavor. Some patients may experience dizziness, dry mouth, or spontaneous combustion.   Extreme caution is advised.

My current job is what many refer to as a “safety net” (i.e. a way to pay the bills while trying to squeeze in the dream of becoming a full time writer and artist in the wee hours). For a person who views creation as a vital necessity in life, that safety net has become little more than a ligature. Up until now, I have justified working in the legal field because, financially, it could give me the support I needed to create those dreams. Yet, all it has really done is create chaos. I have no work-life balance. I’ve burned time and money trying to make life easier, all in an effort to create the time I had wasted. But when you have no money and no time, how the hell is a dream supposed to emerge?

If you’ve been following my blog, you’d know I tried to fix this by downsizing my house. It didn't work. Which begs the next question:

WHY not?   

Why didn't it work? The answer... Because I was looking to downsize the wrong thing. I overshot the real issue. For several years now I have had a common goal: to write for a living. While I want to travel and spend more time with my family, writing is Dream Numero Uno. Accomplishing this desire would ultimately bring about travel and family time, because writing is something that can be done on the road. That's the thing about dreams -- if they truly serve who we are, our other desires become symptomatic of their presence. They manifest as a result of Dream Infestation, an event that brings on ease in life. 

Profane yet Necessary Statement of the Day:

When we operate from a place of breath and ease, dreams flow right the fuck in because there ain't a bunch of bullshit clogging up the pipe. 

Living our dreams makes life easy, simple, and straight freakin' fluid. We work our purpose like a trumped up model on a French-made catwalk, with pride, grace, and a little bit of attitude. When we give our desires the time and energy they truly deserve, we give ourselves the time and energy we deserve because, in reality, those desires are an extension of us.   

This work, "O'clock", is by Alex the Shutter, used under CC BY. "O'clock" is licensed under CC BY by Nichole Beamer.

Timing is Everything

I'm sure you've heard this phrase before. Hell, we've all heard this phrase (if you haven't you've been living under a rock). It's a good one, albeit irksome. The thing that ruffles my feathers about this particular phrase is its ambiguity. 

"What in Gumby's name do you mean, Timing is Everything?

How am I supposed to know what time will work best?

I want things to happen right now.

NOW!! NOW!! NOW!! 

So take your 'timing' and shove it right up your royal tookas!" 

Boy oh boy, can that inner desire get pushy. There's actually a song by Billy Joel that really explains the general meaning behind this punked up phrase.

The point of the phrase is not to reference some unknown time outside yourself. Rather, it is only in your time that dreams will materialize. As the song suggests, Vienna waits for you, not the other way around. This means your dreams will not take root until you are good and ready to see them through. Although we may feel ready early on, gestation does factor into the dream making process. Things must be allowed to take shape, not slapped together in some half-assed, jerry-rigged way that falls apart minutes after it's unveiled. These are our greatest desires, after all, and they deserve as much attention and fine tuning as possible in order to make them "practically perfect in every way."  (Bogarting the Poppins).   

For me personally, I've been gestating for a solid five years. The initial dream came on slowly, and it's been fine-tuned by joy and suffering, respectively. In many ways the emotional roller coaster called life has helped mold my desires into something recognizable, something I can seize and market to the masses. I've been working to get my writing and art out there for a long time, but it wasn't until my dreams were threatened by considerable changes in my day job that I began to consider taking the leap. It was figuring out the right leap that took me a little time, but eventually I caught up and life made an abrupt 180 degree turn. 

Downsize "Obligation", Upsize Your Soul

Somewhere along the line I deluded myself into thinking that downsizing my house would give me the extra money to: [INSERT ACTIVITY HERE]. My top goals were writing, traveling, family time, etc. And while I would have had the extra money to do some of those things, what I would not have is the time. If timing is everything it's probably best that you actually HAVE time to begin with. So instead of downsizing mi casa, I've decided to downsize mis obligaciones. That means I've cut the day job. Not completely, mind you, but enough to focus on the areas of my life that have been lacking.  

The crazy part?

Ever since I made the decision to go part time, everything in life has worked to see it happen. Every single loose end has tied at a rate so fast, my head is spinning round like Linda Blair's. I got a part time gig right out the gate and it was quickly smashed to bits, as my current boss decided to respond with a very unexpected counter maneuver that has changed my job title completely. So instead of being a part time Legal Eagle, I will now be a part time Firm Administrator and -- get this -- focus most of my responsibility on marketing and client relations. Oddly enough, this is the EXACT position I need to help round out my marketing knowledge and experience, for any good writer, artist, and entrepreneur knows that it's all about the marketing.  

And that bass...

I plan to use my extra time to blow my blog wide and focus on more than just philosophy. There will be food, art, and a section dedicated to organic skin care products, as I plan to resume making my cleansing and oil blends. I may also venture into video to give my poetry and mantras a little air time, but that will be down the road.  I'll keep you posted!

Remember what I said before, about dreams bringing in the easy? Look how simple it was for me to switch gears in life, how fluid and manageable. And look how, by simply giving my dreams and desires the attention they deserve, life rewarded me with the tools to see those dreams and desires come to fruition. It's not a difficult thing, catching a ride on the Soul Train.

In the end, all it takes is a willingness to leap...