Realignments: How to Get Here From Here

After many, many months away from this site, I've realized that, since I've started writing again, I need to keep on writing, even when I'm not being paid for the privilege. And that's what writing is -- a privilege to express myself and share what I'm thinking and doing with others. If I've also earned the privilege of inspiring others to read what I've written, then perhaps I'm doing it right.

Certain things fell into place today, forcing the point I'd already known, that between one moment and the next, your life can turn in an unexpected direction. So, what's going on?

I'm writing marketing-style content for a shopping comparison site, plus a daily shopper's blog that has accidentally poured me into a new role as a social media manager as I juggle Facebook, Twitter and another site or two, trying to encourage my readers to bring along still more readers, working and hoping for that golden moment when the readers reciprocate, filling out the articles with responses, going beyond, "I like your column" or "Too long, didn't read". It's marketing, not the next great American novel, something a former coworker and very inspiring gal mentioned she'd like to see me do next. Well, maybe down the road... I'll get there sooner or later. Until then, I'm writing this, and I really love what I'm doing.

That's the key, isn't it? As I've mentioned before, finding a healthy balance is what it's all about, perhaps the only thing that matters. In my case, a passion for writing always lurked back there, so any opportunity to pull the words out and shuffle them around like Scrabble tiles is a good opportunity to me.