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Thursday 22 November 2018

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.

4 comments:

  1. That sounds super exciting, I'm very happy for you! It will be scary sometimes, but you have a very supportive husband and that will make it a lot easier. What kind of book are you writing? :D

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    1. Thank you ^__^ I'm pretty damn excited (and somewhat befuddled, lol). James is beyond supportive, it's so good. I just realised I didn't make it clear in the post, but a lot of what I write is actually collaborations with him - he's responsible for most of the plots, I'm responsible for most of the words on the page. It works for us (though we both each have projects the other is not involved in).

      We have actually already finished the first draft of a fantasy novel...then we realised we wanted to entirely change one of the subplots. It'll be for the best, but it's changed "editing" to "rewriting". That's the first thing on the table. Then I want to work simultaneously on a steampunk fantasy we're writing together (intended as a web serial) and also pick up one of my older projects...still deciding if it's going to be the political fantasy or the 60s scifi. Too many projects started! But I'm really intending to get a lot of them finished, or close to finished.

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  2. Wow, I'm so happy for you! ^_^
    I can relate so much with the 9-5 being so draining that you're unable to devote the time you'd like to your passions and side projects. Sounds like this leap into freelance work and writing will be really good for your physical and mental health.

    The dance group sounds like a lot of fun and a great way to meet new people on top of getting lots of exercise. You make me want to motivate myself to get my fitness levels to a better place!

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    1. Thank you ^__^

      It's going to be so good going freelance. Even if in the end it doesn't work out financially, I can at least head back to some other regular job knowing that I gave it a shot and having at least a few months of not being chained to an office.

      The dance group is amazing! Such lovely girls and yes, it's definitely good on a fitness level (and fun too)

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