Narrowing my focus

I am a daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, Pilates instructor, jewelry designer, author, cook, musician, painter, illustrator, yogi, barista, cashier, etc., etc., etc,. yada, yada, yada, the list can go on and on. I hold a bajillion different rolls, and, benethe them, sub-rolls (not in the sub-sandwich sense) and even some of those can be broken down into sub-sub-rolls. . For example, as an author, I write:

  • Fiction
    • Short stories
    • Novels
  • Non fiction
    • Health
    • Memoir
    • Self-help
    • Creative
    • Craft
  • Freelance
    • Blogging
    • Business/Corporate Writing
    • Content generation
    • Feature articles
    • Catalog copy
  • Children’s stories

I’m sure if I thought about it longer I could even come up with more.

Unfortunately, I can’t be perfect at all of my rolls. Heck, I probably can’t even perfect one of them. But, I can become darn good at some of them. And I’m realizing that to do that, I need to let some of the others go. So, for now, I’m choosing one to cross off the list. Well, actually, the sub-list. I’m going to back-burner the children’s writing I’ve been working on. It’s been nagging me, not because it wanted to be completed, but because it’s been one of those items on the “to-do” list that never gets crossed off. I’m done moving it from list to list to list. Today, for now, I’m removing it. Along with that, I’m unsubscribing from the children’s-market focused writing and illustrating blogs I’m currently subscribed to. I just don’t have time to digest everything, and I’ve got to make some room.

That’s not to say I’ll never come back to the Children’s world. Heck, I’ve got two kids, so, minimally, I’ll continue creating stories for them. It just means that, for now, my writing muscles are training for a different kind of sport. It’s like putting football on hold to focus on baseball. Just like Bo Jackson, I’ll be back. But even he couldn’t play both sports at the same time.

2 thoughts on “Narrowing my focus

  1. amanda

    Good thoughts here, Amanda.
    I’ve had a lot of wheels turning in my head, some of them new, as of late, and what I keep coming back to is that I feel I do a better job at the things most important to me, when I’m not stretching myself to thin doing additional jobs at the same time.
    All around our home, we have plastered the words: “The more simple we are, the more complete we become.” Tour point in narrowing your focus, adds yet another angle to consider when I take in these words.

  2. admin Post author

    Amanda, I love that quote! I think I’m going to paint it- it’ll give me some time to meditate on it. I’ll send you a pic when I’m done.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *