Life is turning upside down in the best possible way

First of all, don't panic! Unlike my last life update this is a good post, and I'm not taking the blog on hiatus ^__^

There are two big things happening in my life right now that I wanted to briefly tell you about. The first is that after three and a half years I'm quitting my office job to try my hand at writing full time. It's a massive step but I needed to give it a shot.

James and I giving it a test period to see how much novel writing I can actually do if I hit it from nine to five and also whether I can pick up a decent amount of bread-and-butter freelance writing work. Though since I do like variety, my current plan is devote four days a week to writing and the other one to working on other creative projects such as getting back in to modelling, perhaps actually taking a course to be a certified make up artist, making this blog better, and maybe taking up contributing to Wunderwelt Libre and any other sites that suit my niche interests.

See, my job was good. I liked the people, the office was nice, the work was engaging but not too stressful most of the time and I was paid pretty well. But (and whether this is my anxiety/depression or just who I am) it sapped 95% of my energy and left me with so little left to do any of the things I wanted to do. Over time I got more tired, gained more weight, and lost so much motivation. Whether it was this job in particular, the commute for it, or simply regular office jobs as a thing, it just really sucked the life out of me. Something had to change. And I started feeling so much better even after handing in my notice so I knew it was the right choice. I'm wrapping things up well and training a replacement, but after 14 December I'll be leaving my job and not going back.

So James and I will both be working as freelance creatives for a bit! I'm very excited ^__^ I'm having a couple of weeks off to just relax and recharge first, then I'll be up and at it with the new year. I can go back to having a slightly more nocturnal sleeping pattern, have an extra three plus hours in my day where I'm not stuck on a train or waiting for a train, see James more, have a social life without it wearing me out, have time to exercise, and just try really hard to see if I can have the dedication to make this work because it's my ideal lifestyle.

As for the second big update, with the end of the regular work life in sight, I saw a casting call online and applied, thinking "yes, this would be fun to do next year when I have a life again". And to my surprise and joy I was accepted and I'm really happy to say that I am Eli and Mari in the new Love Live dance group ShiningBright.au!

Oh my goodness though, it was a sudden start! I was messaging the member who had posted the call on Thursday, she said welcome aboard and by the way we have rehearsal on Sunday and a photoshoot the week after! So I panicked a little, scrambled to order costumes and wigs, and on 18 November went on my way to my first rehearsal with a bare minimum of dance practise under my belt. But it was fun (if tiring) and I am so excited to be a part of this group. I'd actually been thinking about how fun it would be to be in an idol group after first watching Love Live and it's taking a while to sink in that I actually am now!

So my plan of getting back into fitness after I quit work got accelerated since I have now started practising my little heart out. I love dancing but am not naturally very well coordinated so I need to practise a lot! We're planning our performance debut in March 2019, so we have time, but I still want to do my very best and improve as fast as I can.

I may or may not post some of the Love Live stuff to this blog, as I imagine there will be a lot of it and I like keeping this blog primarily lolita. But if you're interested to see more you can follow our Instagram that I linked above, or my Facebook page because I can guarantee there will be a lot o content in both those places!

Joining this group is really good for me. It's pushing me outside of my comfort zone socially, fitness-wise, and also in terms of cosplay. I would never have chosen to cosplay any of the Love Live girls until I was significantly more slim, but now I suddenly am (three costumes bought and counting!). I'll admit, I am kind of terrified, but overall this is a really great thing for me.

So that's what's new with me! It won't really affect this blog but it affects me so I wanted to update my readers regardless. Is there anything new in your life at the moment?

PS I am tentatively planning to make lolita my writing clothes because dressing up = motivation but we'll see how that goes.