During Annalyn’s birthday party over the weekend, a couple of the moms stayed for the fun. As we watched the girls run around the backyard, spraying silly string at each other and giggling, the conversation made its way to jobs and taxes and commutes. (I know. So much fun you can hardly stand it!)
Mark mentioned that I’m self-employed, and one of the moms said, “Do you mind if I ask what you do?”
My answer was real smooth. “Oh. Um. No! Yeah. I’m, um, I’m, uh, I’m a writer.”
It got even more awkward when she asked what I write, and I had to talk about blogs. That are on the internet. Where I work. From my house. (I heard someone say recently that his spiritual gift is awkwardness. I think that might be a real thing.)
I think maybe I need to practice saying it out loud: “I am a writer. I write for websites, and I am the co-author of a book coming out in January.”
Boom. Just like that. (Why was it so hard??) All my stuttering and playing down what I do and what I love is just another apology. And that’s just crazy, because I’m not sorry to be a writer at all. On the contrary! I’m incredibly grateful I get to do what I do. So the next time someone asks me what I do, I’m not hemming or hawing – or apologizing. I’m going to simply say: I write. I’m a writer.
Are you a writer? Do you find it hard to say so? Or do you find it hard to explain anything else that you “are”?
Speaking of my writing, here are a few posts I’ve written lately for other sites.
Getting to Know Our Daughters :: Mothers of Daughters
When we get a chance to breathe and to pray and to listen and to think clearly, it’s good for us to consider how God has made our girls. Because, though we share a gender and possibly a hair color or eye shape or body type or food preferences, our girls are not us. They are unique souls God made with all the creativity in the universe. They are individuals. They are different and special and amazing.
Secrets to Stealing Some Space of Your Own :: Mom Advice
I couldn’t whip that garage into any shape at all, because my entire house was out of shape. And THAT is why I’d been feeling so out of sorts. When we transformed our guest room/office into a nursery, I didn’t think twice about it (other than to be grateful for a third, albeit tiny, bedroom). And when we moved my desk into my older daughter’s room and our bookshelves into storage, I was so happy to have cleared space in our living and dining rooms, which would surely help us sell the house quicker.
[Spoiler alert: It did not help us sell the house quicker. Or at all. #thatsanotherstory]
Those moves were good things and for good reasons, but they also effectively stole all of MY spaces from our house.
When Your House is Falling Apart :: (in)courage
Transformation — whether we’re talking about a house or a heart — is not a pretty process. True rehabilitation, true change only happens when the old, crumbling, moldy, and rusty parts are stripped away, revealing the naked truth underneath. Because it’s only when we are elbow-deep in mud and muck that we can see the strong, shining bones below on which we can build something beautiful.
What do you say when someone asks what you do or what you are?
This post is part of the 31 Days Writing Challenge. To read all the posts in this series, click here. And to learn more about this challenge or to find more series to read, visit Write31Days.com. Apple photos courtesy of my brother, James.
It’s hard to own writing as a profession -for me anyway- because there isn’t a thing that “legitimizes” a writer, there is no permanent employer, no consistent pay check, etc. The worlds idea of “what people do” fits into 9-5 and holiday pay, none of that exists for writers, nevermind bloggers. Every time I tell someone I’m a writer, I have to remind myself that I don’t need to prove it to anyone. I only need to own my calling.
True. It’s also hard because there are so many ways to be a writer. So it means something different depending on which writer is saying it!
I love that—don’t need to “prove it to anyone”! It’s so true on the “legitimizes” thing as it pertains to perception. I’m a self-employed designer/illustrator. Not doing the time card thing can really mess with others’ understanding of what work is and can look like.
I work for a big Fortune 50 company so my title is in Corporate-speak. It gives you no actual idea of what I do. And if I tried to tell you what I do, it wouldn’t make sense either its all a bunch of acronyms and more corporate speak. So I just say “I work in Account Management” and I’m honestly not even sure if that makes sense to people who don’t do the same thing either.
Oh, that’s hard. Do you feel a little bit like Chandler on Friends? :)
I’m trying to get better at this and get better about embracing how to respond to that oh-so-awkward introduction question. Since I’m doing multiple things within what I do, it can sound ridiculous and disorganized out loud, particularly as it changes with time and projects.
Yes! My job is a bunch of little things that add up to a sizable amount of work, but it sounds so crazy when I try to explain it! Thanks for visiting – and empathizing, Jacquelyn!
I have a lot of trouble calling myself a writer cause I don’t get paid for it. But I am one because I write. (or do I write because I’m a writer?) Bottom line, I write because God told me to before I knew there was anything to say, and He has been faithful. Maybe someday I will get paid. Not holding my breath. It’s freeing to be brave!
Sounds to me like you ARE, absolutely, a writer. :)