1st blog post
A few months ago I decided to resign from a 6-figure marketing job to pursue my dreams of writing books. I use the word “decide” lightly.
I more like submitted to the calling that I’ve been ignoring for years. A calling supported by the consistent disappointment in my corporate experience and the silence of an empty house after both of my children left for college.
One at Spelman, the other at Morehouse.
Very proud Empty-Bester!!! 💯🤗✊🏾
What started as a whisper, eventually ruptured into a screaming in my soul. I had survived being a single parent, losing both of my parents and both sets of grandparents. I had survived the implicit biases of the world around me and abusive relationships. I’m ready to do the work required for me to live on purpose. It is now that I must THRIVE.
So I started writing and posting on social media 10 months ago. Up until Covid-19 hit 5 months ago, I continued to have one foot in corporate America by starting my own freelance marketing and business solutions company. Let me preface this by saying….. “I am thankful for the opportunity to make good money while working from home on my own schedule”. Not only did it give me the freedom to write, but also the opportunity to take note of how much stress I was under and what that was doing to my body.
REWIND. Before deciding to leave my job and benefits I started having dizzy spells for the first time in my life. Besides being overweight, I always passed my yearly physical with flying colors. My stamina, endurance, and blood work were that of someone much younger than me. In addition, I’ve never been on any maintenance drugs. Never close to diabetes or high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Here I was in the doctor’s office complaining to my doctor about having blackout moments. which were caused by high blood pressure. My doctor (a fabulous woman) refused to put me on medication. Instead, she took me out of work for a few days. And it went away. She and I had a long conversation about prioritizing myself over everything, even my kids. Now in theory all of that talk makes logical sense, but applying that in real life would mean deprogramming my thought patterns, rearranging my schedules…. All of them.. and letting go of things I loved like, late-night reality T.V.
It also meant writing. Writing is my therapy. It brings me peace and puts me in a space where I can truly express myself. Completely. Without boundaries or concern. Knowing that I still found it challenging to prioritize. I literally was afraid to fully apply myself to myself. As Covid-19 slowly shut down the world, I slowly lost clients and work. Again, not my decision. Then I started randomly meeting other published authors and watching them publish book after book. The universe was like “Sis, What are you doing?” Eventually, it just clicked. The direction of my first book changed and I was rewriting my first book Trini’s Blues, a retelling of events in my life.
Seeing it in print just solidified that I am a writer, poet, survivor and soon to be a thriving author 😊❤💖✔ Which requires me to move beyond my limiting and shallow comfort zone.