Dream Jobs and Nightmares

To be fair, what I am talking about was neither a “dream” or a “nightmare”, but it was an interesting learning.

When I took a break from the Corporate life, I was interested to see if I could secure some paid freelance writing work.

Such work could be stand alone projects, one off assignments and/or ideally, an agreement regular to provide content.

I have secured work mainly of a technical writing nature such as writing risk management strategies, disaster recovery plans, promotional material and the like but it took over 12 months to secure an agreement for regular writing work for a website/publication.

This opportunity came up in October 2018 when I expressed interest in submitting content for a publication concentrating on stories and matters of interest for a very specific and quite small region.

Or to put it another way, here was a chance to write an article a week and be paid for each article. There was to be no by-line or formal acknowledgement but hey, I write and they pay so it doesn’t get much better than that. Let’s call it a small dream.

Six months later, I have decided to withdraw from this arrangement. While it has definitely been no nightmare, it has been a less than satisfying experience and one that has been most revealing.

I discovered that working within such a limited scope of subject matter was very difficult and not suited to my temperament or skills. I discovered that I do not have the natural descriptive prose necessary for writing articles of this nature.

Concerning descriptive prose, I certainly worked very hard to come up with the words needed however never felt the words I used were authentically mine and often felt fake.

I also had no say in the photographs accompanying an article. I had a very clear idea in my mind of the appropriate image to accompanying an article I had written and it was frustrating to have no say in this.

I enjoy writing and tend not to fuss about whether I am any good or not. I compare it too the 24-handicap golfer who simply loves playing each week. I love to write even if only for my own enjoyment

I enjoyed the technical writing assignments and would happily do more work of this type.

I enjoyed the research this often involved discovered and learning new things. For example, I previously had no idea of the cultural sensitivities to be aware of when travelling through Sweden.

As far as other writing is concerned, if anyone wants to pay someone to write articles about whatever is on their mind that day, takes their fancy or prompts their interest about any subject what-so-ever, I am available.

I suspect I will have to indulge myself in blogging and the satisfaction that brings. Income aside, I guess that is the dream job.

And also, get a real job.

Thanks for reading

What I Discovered During 11 Week Absence From Facebook

On 16 March, I posted a photo on my Facebook timeline taken from the window of a Virgin Boeing as it landed in Brisbane. It was of a wet and dreary tarmac. That was 11 weeks ago and I have not visited Facebook since.

It wasn’t a conscious decision to stay away, it just happened. One day became 2, became 3. The days became weeks and the weeks added up.

I had never seen myself as someone who constantly updates their timeline. If anything, my posts are predictable, repetitious, even boring and inevitably include a photo of a sunrise.

I see my world as unremarkable.

These last weeks, I have been contemplating leaving Facebook for good but before doing so, gave consideration to what I would be missing out on, and if I have missed anything these last 11 weeks.

During this time, I became a Grand Uncle for the second time and chances are, I have not seen any, or many photos of Penelope, or her Sister.

I have friends living overseas and now have an 11 week gap in what is happening in their world, their adventures and removations.

Another friend is exploring Kangaroo Island and I have only seen the occasional photo by way of a message.

Yet another has been heading to Darwin via the West Australian coast. He is “notorious” for taking great photographs and I have missed them all.

Another has just left for the Women’s World Cup (Soccer), others have run marathons in Boston and London, trekked the Camino and cycled the Dolomites, not to forget an epic bike ride from Land's End to John O'Groats.

We all have friends. All are important and in our ever busy and complex lives, we do not find or make time to call, e-mail, write or message as often as we might have done in the past. 

That’s not to say we care less, are less interested or desire to be less connected.

Facebook has facilitated the refreshing of friendships past. Work colleagues from an era that was far more carefree, pre children and where the biggest problem was having enough money left over each week to go out for a beer.

Facebook has allowed the finding of school friends and forming some effectively new, valuable and fulfilling friendships. There is something very special about getting to know again, people I last knew at age 18.

For all I know, during the last 11 weeks friends have become engaged, become grandparents, parents or suffered loss. New jobs have commenced, new adventures embarked upon and I am none the wiser.

I understand that Facebook can be toxic, biased, cruel, horrible and divisive but ultimately, we get to choose what we participate in and how we interact with the platform.

My 11 week Facebook sabbatical has allowed me to understand and newly appreciate the people in my life and in a very real way, these include Facebook Friends.

Besides, if I do return to Facebook, I will miss the inside action of the Women’s World Cup. Let the photos flow Geoff.