Lately I have been in a state of restlessness, like I am waiting for something to happen. I guess I am, because I have all these career goals and still not a clear timeline of when things are really going to change. Still, I find myself checking my e-mail constantly, in part because I am bored at work, but also because I am hoping for something exciting — like the perfect new job — to magically land in my in-box.
Wow! Things can sure change a lot in a day. Yesterday I was looking forward to a couple of weeks without any writing assignments (other than Want to Freelance, which is one of those gigs that doesn’t feel like work), and today I picked up four assignments for Trails.com about rock climbing. And I’ve been accepted to write for Green Diva Mom. Green Diva Mom looks like a great community — the site has a lot of content about living green “inside and out” so I think it is the perfect replacement for my AltGlobe work. I will be writing in the categories of Food & Drink and Beauty. I have some knowledge in both these areas but it will be a great opportunity to learn even more and to help people live greener, more natural lives! I will be writing two articles a month with the option to write more, and I get to pick my own topics. Can’t ask for much more than that. I think both these clients will be a great addition to my portfolio and help move me further towards specializing in the kind of writing that really interests me. Between the new Web site, the editing project, and the new writing gigs, my relaxing weekend isn’t sounding so relaxing anymore, but that’s okay. I’m really excited about all my projects!
Yesterday I found a very cool Web design template in CSS that I decided to download and play around with for my new site (it was free, which was surprising, because it’s a lot more unique and creative than most free templates I have seen). I spent the entire evening playing around with the code and trying to figure out how to lay out my new site. I didn’t expect to get much done last night as I am new to the world of CSS, but I wanted to put together a basic layout so I could get an idea of how it would look (which I did accomplish, but I’m not sharing it yet because it is going to change drastically).
I completed 2 assignments last night that both dealt with topics I knew nothing about: homeowners’ associations and the Boy Scouts. I had been putting them off because I feared they would be both difficult and boring, but it turned out, they weren’t difficult at all. I actually enjoyed reading through my research, identifying the relevant information, putting it all together, and polishing it up.
I have listened to two different audio programs recently that both address the connection between emotional problems and physical ailments. The speakers cite cases of severe arthritis, migraines, and other chronic health problems that have cleared up after the subjects learned to deal with repressed anger or forgive someone from their past. It makes sense when you think about it — we know that psychological stress can lead to physical manifestations such as insomnia or back and neck tension. Why wouldn’t emotional distress lead to other physical symptoms as well?
