For four months I worked incredibly long hours helping a group of engineers write a proposal to the United States Air Force. My job was to advise and to make sure they correctly followed the request for proposal (RFP) instructions in the given number of pages. Plus I edited and rewrote their work to make the proposal read like it was written in one voice. I would arrive at work around 7:30 am and leave between six and eight in the evening. That left me just enough time to have a quick dinner at our hotel where the selections were less than enticing and go up to my hotel room and get ready for bed.
Regular writing even under these conditions reminded me how important journaling is to my continued well-being. It always gives me space to gripe, to rant, and even to describe some of the good things about my day. Since journaling has become a way of life for me, I couldn’t let it go no matter what. Unfortunately, my other writing went by the wayside during this heavy period of work and I’m still paying the price for that, as I described in my last blog post earlier this week. Not so with journaling. Since I’ve been home and thankfully unemployed again, I’m back to journaling full swing without falling asleep. And I’m also taking the steps necessary to get back to my other writing work blogging included.
So I’ve learned two LIFE LESSONS as a result. Don’t talk or think about writing, write no matter what. And if I stop writing it will be hard to recapture the routine. Writing is a habit that must be continued daily. I need to fit it in my day or evening no matter how exhausted I am.
I also learned that I’d much rather work as a writer than on a proposal. The next time a proposal opportunity comes up; I’ll give it a long think before accepting.
I have written this Life Lesson post as part of Dawn Herring’s #JournalChat Live SEPTEMBER OPEN HOUSE. Please go to her website for more information.
DAWN HERRING: ARTIST * WRITER * CREATIVE AND SOCIAL MEDIA CONSULTANT * HOST OF #JOURNALCHAT LIVE
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