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In case you didn't notice, I took a little month off from SNIPPETS and thinking and all-things-laptop. Same with my Little Italy work - I am taking a full summer sabbatical from writing monthly newsletters and maintaining Little Italy social media and websites.
The truth is, I'm kinda burnt out with the same-old-same-old. I need a new project, a new something, a new passion (besides pickleball! Playing pickleball always thrills me.) Problem is, I don't know what "I should be now."
Have you felt like this?
What should I be now? Could I just be a beach bum?
Everything feels like "been-there-done-that" career-wise: I wrote and marketed eight books, I've worked in the corporate world, I've worked in the nonprofit sector, I've worked for a newspaper, I've freelanced as a writer/editor, I've served on event committees, I've volunteered all over creation offering writing, editing, design work.
Who should I be now? Could I just be a professional pickleball player?
I am kinda a lost llama and feeling uninspired. (It may still be the grief over my sister Paula's death; then again, it could be just pure laziness - I am unsure.)
Just spent a glorious month on the Jersey Shore, and although I occupied myself daily, at times, I felt bored. Some days felt as if they had no purpose. Some felt like wake-up-make-the-bed-go-to-sleep ... wake-up-make-the-bed-go-to-sleep. I played a lot of pickleball. I played games on my phone. I watched many good Netflix movies and short series.
Have you ever felt that way?
What and who should I be now? Could I just be a Netflix advisor?
My 20-year-old nephew is trying to find himself career-wise. He works full-time but he knows that job "isn't it." He is one of Paula's twins; and she did a major career switch at age 50-something from the fashion industry as a high-up VP ... to become a teacher. My son's girlfriend, 29, did her major career switch from a teacher of autistic students to a winemaker at a vineyard; as did my daughter, 28, who left the field of Astronomy and is attending a six-month program at Aveda Institute to learn skincare and become an esthetician. [click to see her website, biblically accurate beauty by angel]
No age is definitive in what we do and who we are. We humans, all through life, are allowed to - and do - redefine ourselves. It depends on who is around to influence us and what circumstances we're living. Losing our parents 100% changes us. Losing others we love redefines our days for certain. Some of our family, friends, and fellow snippeteers are currently adjusting to life without their wives and husbands who died and / or divorced ... who and what should they be now without them?
Our kids grow up and leave our homes; sometimes they leave our states, and although we remain mothers and fathers, ours is an entirely different role over young adults than the toddlers they were. Who should we be now without them in the house to guide and care for?
Even when we lose a pup or a kitty, our ability to care for that breathing fur being is done - it's gone. What should we be now without that role?
All of this emotional turmoil, pain, and loss affects our abilities, our passions, our interests, moods, preferences, and how we wish to spend our time. We learn "life is short." So now what?
We must be patient. We know "what we should be now" will come along. We may not be able to envision it today; and on some days we lose hope that "this is it" forever. But it's not. We've already learned the lesson that nothing is forever.
What to be now?
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