My depression seems like a distant memory now, but I can feel it lurking just under the positive attitude I’m holding onto most days. It hasn’t been much of a hindrance lately because I’ve been able to keep regular contact with much of my social support, most of whom are very encouraging and uplifting. I’ve successfully reduced the impact of the few people in my life that have a hard time being positive and have made some happy memories with the important ones. All in all, I’m soaking up the love and joy right now so that I have something to cling to when my depression raises its ugly head.

For now, another evening of planning and learning is under my belt. Now its time to get down to some serious writing. I’ve been focusing on writing with and for other people lately and haven’t done much publishable work for myself. I have made some progress on my two novels. I’m editing one of my short stories to enter in the annual anthology for our writers group. I’ve even started co-writing a book that has a very fun beginning. So I have done my own writing, just nothing publishable for a while.

This journey into life as a freelance writer isn’t one I’d recommend as a fun pastime for someone who is a little bored. It is taking a lot of work to get little reward so far. I am, however, committing to this as my career path so the work is easily worth it to achieve my goals. I spend a lot of time and energy researching the best ways to make a living as a writer. I spend some time everyday weighing the different directions I could go. I give my social network a good amount of energy because that’s where my best inspiration comes from. And, of course, I spend some time everyday writing.

Some days I’m ultra focused and make good headway on multiple projects and other days I only have enough energy to keep my social contacts active and revise my plans to reach my goals. Most days though, I make some progress in some areas and just let go of the things I didn’t get to. I’ve learned that, while accountability is a great motivator, sometimes I just need to accept that I can’t be perfect all the time. Learning to accept my failures and rejoice in the small successes has been my biggest saving grace most of the time. I’ve had a habit in the past of dwelling on the ‘accountability’ and missing the small victories.

Today I’ve finished this post, received some professional advice, did my daily social media posts, and edited some more of my short story. I’ve checked off a couple of errands off my list and still managed to spend some time with my son and take my dog for a walk. I’m not done yet, but even if I were, I could call today a success.