Living with Clariity is a site dedicated to supporting and equipping moms to be better parents and family CFOs as they navigate the many monumental changes in life: getting married, having kids, buying a new home, changing jobs, putting the kids through college, etc.  I am really excited to be a part of this new project!

Read my first 2 posts on the Clariity blog:

Relationships and Money: Combining Finances After Marriage

Planning an Outdoor Wedding

If you have any requests for topics you would like to see covered that are of particular interest to newlyweds or engaged couples, leave me a comment!

When I first started doing freelance writing, I wasn’t sure if I would end up specializing in anything, or what that specialty would be. Green living? Yoga? These were some of the topics that got me started, and I still do some work in these areas. I’m even still working for AltGlobe, my very first client. But gradually, I realized that what really excited me were assignments related to health and wellness. I started moving more and more towards work in this area, and feel very fortunate to have secured my work with My Big Life and Healthy Theory.

Eventually, I started giving up the clients that weren’t related to health and wellness. It’s amazing to think that a year ago, I was taking any and every freelance job I could get that paid a decent wage. I wrote a lot of difficult articles on subjects of little or no interest to me. I had to hone my skills, learning how to write faster; how to construct a solid outline before writing; how to write first, then edit. I believe that my writing and time-management skills have improved tremendously over the past year. And having a part-time job has allowed me to do it all without the stress of supporting myself solely on my freelance earnings.

But now that I’ve secured more work in the health and wellness industry – and landed my highest-paying gig yet – I’m feeling a familiar itch. My thoughts are completely preoccupied with ideas about articles. Being at the office is torturous because it is taking time away from my writing. I feel like I’m ready to take that step and move into freelancing full time.

I know when I tried it before, it was difficult. I had trouble staying on task, and didn’t always enjoy being at home alone all day. I craved structure and social interaction. But now, my situation is different. Instead of a cramped apartment, I have a house with dedicated office space. I’ve been more disciplined with my schedule (evidenced by the fact that I’ve been getting up to regularly attend a 6 a.m. yoga class). I have work that I really, really enjoy. And I have a new goal: to become a certified holistic nutritionist so that I can continue expanding my knowledge and services in the health and wellness industry and add more credibility to my writing.

So I’ve decided to give the new gig two weeks to make sure I enjoy it as much as I think I will, and though I haven’t given my notice yet, I have a target date for resigning from my part-time job. Here’s to the year ahead … may it be as full of growth and opportunity as the past twelve months.

But I did read a very encouraging article on Freelance Writing Jobs yesterday about finding work on Craigslist. The author, Carly, says she makes more money and works fewer hours than she did when she had a full-time job, and all of her work comes from Craigslist. She spends one hour a day searching through and applying to job ads in all major cities. So I decided to try it today. It took me more like an hour and a half, and in the end I had only found two jobs I felt were worth applying for. But if I’m diligent about applying for jobs every day, I should start seeing some results. I also e-mailed one of my favorite clients to see if they had any opportunities for more work in a different area.

So I know it’s possible to make this work. I just have to keep plugging away. Productivity and career growth are things you have to work at every day.