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Happy Yule
Dec. 21st, 2006 09:05 pmTonight is the Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. Many people I know will be lighting candles and holding all night vigils to welcome the return of the sun after being away for so long. That might sound a bit weird, but how many of you have a dead pine tree in your home covered in lights and shiny tinsel. When you take a step back, Xmas has some weird traditions around it.
Looking back, it's been a transformative year. I've been going through my own metamorphosis in terms of my career path (moving from technical writing to biography writing), but there are a few others I know who are struggling with their own demons right now. All of life's challenges seem to be building to a surging point and these people are trying to decide if they can ride the avalanche or be swept away by it.
For my part, technical writing is a lucrative career path but it's starting to get soul-crunching. I'm hoping the biographies will be just as lucrative, but also more satisfying. It's difficult to get excited about your work when you write technical manuals that, by their very nature, have a reputation of being unhelpful and uninteresting. Of course, MY technical manuals are helpful and well-designed, but I work in an industry that does not value good documentation.
However, the biography is something that people can value, not only when they first get it, but also over time. I feel good about the product and I think it's something that can really respond to a need for people searching for personal history and family roots. But I still need to pay the bills, so I worry about the realities of money and providing for my family.
I strongly believe in this project, but the future is fraught with peril. What makes it easier is having a strong support from friends and family; if they believe in me and my project, I can't be too far off-base, can I? Maybe I need to put some trust in them too...
So to those people who are struggling with their own perils, I can only advise them to lean on their friends and family (both biological and selected). We're dying to help you, if you'll let us.
So let's raise a glass to each other, count our blessings, and carry each other into a new year. It's going to rock.
Looking back, it's been a transformative year. I've been going through my own metamorphosis in terms of my career path (moving from technical writing to biography writing), but there are a few others I know who are struggling with their own demons right now. All of life's challenges seem to be building to a surging point and these people are trying to decide if they can ride the avalanche or be swept away by it.
For my part, technical writing is a lucrative career path but it's starting to get soul-crunching. I'm hoping the biographies will be just as lucrative, but also more satisfying. It's difficult to get excited about your work when you write technical manuals that, by their very nature, have a reputation of being unhelpful and uninteresting. Of course, MY technical manuals are helpful and well-designed, but I work in an industry that does not value good documentation.
However, the biography is something that people can value, not only when they first get it, but also over time. I feel good about the product and I think it's something that can really respond to a need for people searching for personal history and family roots. But I still need to pay the bills, so I worry about the realities of money and providing for my family.
I strongly believe in this project, but the future is fraught with peril. What makes it easier is having a strong support from friends and family; if they believe in me and my project, I can't be too far off-base, can I? Maybe I need to put some trust in them too...
So to those people who are struggling with their own perils, I can only advise them to lean on their friends and family (both biological and selected). We're dying to help you, if you'll let us.
So let's raise a glass to each other, count our blessings, and carry each other into a new year. It's going to rock.
