I always enjoyed having a stable job while working as a freelance writer. Previously, I was teaching creative writing at university and writing blog articles for websites online. Everything went really well until the pandemic happened. At the beginning of 2021, I was made redundant by the university that I worked for because the entire department was shut down due to COVID-19 – lack of resources at that time forced the department to be permanently shut down – it was not viable anymore. I thought at last I could have more time to write many more blog articles at home, but then I realized that lack of a stable job that I truly loved so much actually gave me anxiety which was not good for freelance writing during those difficult months. Indeed, I wrote significantly fewer articles from February to June 2021 because I needed lots of time to get used to the change and to work on my mental health. Interestingly, I got a new teaching job in July 2021, and after that, I started to write a large number of blog articles after work again. When the pandemic ended, I went on an overseas trip and wrote a journal entry which intrigued me while I was reading it today. So, I’m sharing this journal entry here with you.
Identify the right mentor.
After the redundancy, people around me kept giving me advice. I sincerely appreciate their kindness, but I have to point out that not everyone’s advice is helpful. I should only follow the advice from people who are living the life that I want in that particular field. Therefore, I identified the right mentor, someone that I met when I was in my late 20s – He is a successful writer and educator that I admire. He teaches academic writing at university while writing flash fiction after work. He told me that the reason he wanted to keep his job at university is because he can’t sit in front of a computer all day every day. Yes, writing requires the writer to sit in front of a laptop for many hours each day, so the teaching job helps the writer to have some variety in life.
This mentor encouraged me to apply for a teaching position at the university that he was working for, and I got the job. Thanks to his advice, I’ve rebuilt the life that I love.
Know who your real friends are.
I realized that there are some ‘friends’ like me only if I am not doing better than they are. When I got married many years ago, a friend of mine didn’t talk to me for months after seeing the wedding photos. When I was going through a divorce several years later, a colleague became a friend of mine – at that time, I thought she wanted to offer help because of her kindness. But later on, one thing after another, based on the evidence that I noticed, I realized that she did that because she can only become friends with people who are not doing better than she is. Sadly, jealousy might be the secret pandemic in western society.
Whenever I went on an overseas trip in Eastern Europe, I could see that people I met there are very different – they are significantly more honest, caring and genuine. I’m saying this not because I only spent a limited amount of time with them & felt better about them. I say this because some of my closest friends are people that I met when I was in Eastern Europe – I know their authenticity is real and they are truly happy & supportive when I tell them that I’m going to change something major in order to pursue happiness in my life. They are totally happy with the change and they praise me for trying.
“I hope you’ve thoroughly enjoyed this journal entry that I wrote during an overseas trip.”
