I am in high gear and inspiration mode, thanks to fellow bloggers like Carol Tice and JD at boyslumber.wordpress.com, plus faithful readers, old and new (welcome and welcome back!). Why did I not blog while I was away on vacation? I’m glad you asked because I do have a good excuse – er, I mean, reason: I needed to rest my ‘mouse hand’. I do a lot of work in PowerPoint and 95% of it is done using the mouse. I got to sit and putter a lot, so I’m eager to get back to blogging…

… But first, let me ask you something. How do you respond when someone asks you “so, what do you do?” Do you state your occupation or profession and describe it? Or self-consciously admit that you are a stay-at-home mom? Perhaps you’re a student, or a teacher on sabbatical. Maybe you’re taking some courses – for professional development or to complete a degree. Or maybe you’re retired – lucky duck!

Well, I confess that I usually stall with a humorous spiel about habits and hobbies. Or I go into networking mode and deliver my 7-second-self-marketing pitch. Often I’m caught off guard and get nervous and tongue-tied. But from now on, my answer will be: I am a writer. Wow, it feels good to say that!

I love to write. It’s how I think, how I work through my emotions – good and bad. Love letters and hate letters (unsent) help me to safely blow off emotional steam. Many pro-and-con lists have been employed in helping me choose between options.

Some people are talkers – extroverts, like my sister and a couple of my friends. But we introverts prefer to work things out internally (in our heads or on paper) – especially before we have to say anything out loud.

In my ‘day job’ I get to do some writing, and a good deal of editing and proofreading. With 20/20 hindsight, I realize I should have studied journalism or creative writing in college. Instead, I dabbled in Arts courses and got a general BA while focusing on finding Mr. Right. I learned a lot – about life, relationships, the differences between men and women, decisions and consequences – especially through poor choices and wrong relationships. The by-product of all this is a career that has consisted of working in office administration rather than passionately following my muse. “Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow” wrote Marsha Sinetar. I read the book but did not do it. Why?

Laziness. Fear. The relentless need to earn a living. All compounded by the paralysis of analysis. But now, as a mature, well-balanced woman with a measure of emotional healing (thank you, Terry Wardle, Pastor Sean and my Healing Care Group sisters) I am using my God-given gift to blog better (oops, forgive the alliteration).

It’s never too late and I have decided to not only be involved in writing, but committed to it. Stay tuned, but right now, I’m off to babysit my cousins…

*  Title paraphrase of the Barbra Streisand song “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from the movie Funny Girl.