Promote Yourself

The internet world is something else. It's fascinating how you can invent and express yourself, for one thing. On the negative side, you could be a creepy old man pretending to be a 16 year old girl in a distorted attempt at self-expression, but on the positive you could promote yourself in a way that you unveil opportunities you would otherwise not be considered for or not have exposure to. 

For instance, my writing abilities are pretty decent, and songwriting and blogwriting help me to continuously improve myself. I want to get into the writing world more professionally, though, and I have been struggling with how to do so. I earned a degree in Philosophy, not English, so although I wrote a whole lot of excessively long papers I apparently don't have the grammar skills necessary to ally myself with the English professionals. I have been assuring job ads that I am competent, can learn quickly and will be quite adept even though I don't have the preferred background. Unfortunately, jobs have a silly paradox: can't do it unless you have experience, but can't get experience because you can't get a job since you don't have experience. 

Well, thanks to the Internet, this paradox is somewhat re-routed. I decided, instead of responding to ads, to post my own and offer my services. I don't have to lie and say I'm an editing master or a English guru, but I let them know that I can edit their work and offer them professional quality and an efficient job - affordable at that. And you know what? I've been getting responses.

It's a good lesson in creating opportunities for myself. The only way I'll become a part of this world and be seen is by putting myself out there. Thanks to my highly supportive and graphic design-inclined boyfriend, I have beautiful business cards coming my way, as well as a pending website. That's made me really excited and nervous at the same time. 

Of all the things I do, I still don't really seem to have a specific title that defines me. Not that one word should encompass my entire being, but most people know how they would label themselves on a business card. This all just brings me back around to the issue of being able to play freely and allow my creative flow to be unleashed. Once I start focusing and giving myself a break, I'll have the opportunity to create things that can be shared and be able to define what I offer more clearly. And of course, I'm also working towards some great references for a professional writing career. So things are moving, and they are looking up. That eases my nerves and increases my excitement.

On that note, I'll post a few lovely pictures I've taken during and since my move out west. Since it isn't flickr I won't go crazy, it's just nice to see beautiful pictures. 

I accidentally took it upside down, but I like it better this way.

The sunset on the Bay - always unique, always beautiful