Week One - My Safe Assignment

While mentally working through the SAFE barrier assignment, I've determined this one doesn't really have much hold over me. I tend to live between a fair balance of reasonable safety and necessary risk. I (finally) enrolled in a writing course not tied to anything other than my interest in becoming a better writer and published author. I think I broke the SAFE barrier years ago when I first became a single mother and knew I would never allow a daycare or stranger raise my child. This meant I had to come up with a plan for finding work that would either allow my family members to babysit for my daughter or allow me to work from home.

I tried both methods in my daughter's early years and quickly found out option two was the better choice. I worked a few odd work-from-home jobs (i.e. tarot card reader), but settled with an educational Internet research company for about two years. The money was horrible, but I was willing to sacrifice the "finer things in life" for the quality time I had with my daughter. Eventually, my mom caught the home business bug and started her own company. She was a huge success in her first year and brought me on a few years after that. I have been working from home, part-time and full-time (whichever I prefer), ever since--about four years now. What a blessing my mother didn't succumb to any SAFE barriers when she went for her dream. I even managed to tackle my fear of mothering, working and studying when I attended college from 2005-2007. What a hectic time that was, but man, what a learning experience. Another example? I plunged into the wonderful (and expensive) world of homeownership. Yay! Now I have a fixer upper and even more writing opportunities.

Taking the leap to rely solely on self-employment was, and is, very scary. There are a lot of variables and not very much security from month-to-month. However, the risk is SO worth the reward, in my opinion. I maintain a positive outlook. I know that when a hardship pops up, there's always a way to learn from it and in most cases overcome it to find greener grass on the other side of the obstacle.

I tell my Muse to keep her darn mouth shut when she wants to start verbally rebuilding that SAFE barrier I started tearing down four years ago. The important thing is I leap. I don't allow my fear of the unknown stop me from following my dreams, any of them. Now, for my next assignment, the one barrier I KNOW has been holding me back from successful writing.