I think I've vented on this subject before, so if this seems familiar, forgive me.
I don't understand why people continue to tell me to find a "back up career". And I cannot figure out for the life of me why they always suggest nursing as that back up. News flash: I hate needles. And blood. And pretty much everything dealing with the human body. And other humans. And science. Needless to say, nursing is nowhere in my future. Ever.
The selfish part of me wants to scream "I've written a book people! A real book! One that is on my shelf that has my name on the cover and my picture on the back and words in the middle that I came up with!"
But I don't want to be that person so I smile and nod and say "maybe" to ever stupid suggestion I hear.
No I don't want to teach. I'm not called to teach. I don't have the patience for it or the desire to do it.
Yes, I'm going to major in English. Yes I think it is a career, and yes I think it's a good idea.
Honestly though, it's no ones business, and I don't get why everyone thinks I need their opinion.
I have prayed over the decision to pursue writing as a career more than anyone knows. I have had anxiety about how I'm ever going to make a living. But what I know for sure it that writing brings me peace. The idea of being a writer, in any capacity, brings me joy. The idea that I get to do what I love for the rest of my life is exhilarating.
It's not easy. It's incredibly difficult to find a thread of inspiration and unravel it completely only to spin it back up into one contiguous story that other people want to read. I'm not just sitting around day dreaming, I'm researching so my facts are right. I'm sketching and googling and Pinteresting and erasing and rewriting. I'm waking up at 2 am because some thought that HAS to make it into my manuscript hits me in the head. I stay up until 3 am because once I grab hold of some trail, I want to write it out as far as possible so I don't lose it. I waste my entire check on spiral notebooks because I've filled all twenty piled on my desk. I write until my hands cramp up because my computer is on the fritz and I have six manuscripts that have to be finished anyway.
So to those people who think writing isn't a career: I don't care. Every time I look back at my life, all these tiny pieces that never made sense before finally fit together and they all come out to one thing; me writing. When I look at the progress I've made, the things I've accomplished, I know that it is 100% God. He is behind everything that I do, and I think if I was following the wrong rabbit whole, I wouldn't be nearly this successful.
No one has to like my choices except for me and my savior. No one gets to determine if I'm where I'm supposed to be but me and Him. As long as God is guiding me, no one can tell me I'm on the wrong path.
