Beyond Survival
Posted on February 13, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |
I’m sitting in a coffee shop as I write this. My wife is at home with our youngest child, the other two are in school. This place is my second office. The mottled ocher and rust walls provide a subdued, cloudy backdrop. The mismatched chairs and sofas seem to float haphazardly in empty space, held at bay only by the music that eases its way around me–this selection is a soft jazz tune…there’s no telling what the next song will be.
I can’t help but smile. This is my life. And it’s a damn good one. I get to play with words all day AND I get paid well for it. I glide through writers’ forums and read writers’ blogs, and I am utterly amazed at all the whining and complaining going on. They bitch about the low pay, propects’ expectations of something for nothing, the clients who rip them off…how can their reality be so much different from mine?
Then I realized…they are stuck in survival mode. Like a person lost in the wilderness, they see it only as a threatening, perilous place fraught with wild animals, poisonous plants and deadly sheer cliffs around every turn. They are ignorant of the abundance that surrounds them if only they would open their eyes…if only someone could show them how.
I don’t use this metaphor lightly. I grew up playing in the woods, going camping and hunting. I knew how to not just survive, but thrive in the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on my back before I could drive. Knowing that I could lose everything–even the roof over our head–tomorrow and still provide for my family lends a remarkable reserve of confidence.
But, as I left the comforts of life as a writer in an ad agency, I found that this knowledge had more direct implications for me as a freelancer. The principles of wilderness survival translate shockingly well to success as a freelance writer. The ability to find or make food, shelter, water and fire mirror the skills necessary to succeed as a freelancer.
This site is meant to show you how. The wild animals make for a damn fine meal. The plants can help with everything from overcoming illness to the tools you need to survive. The sheer cliff affords an incredible view, if you’ll just quit looking down for a moment. If you’ll follow me, I’ll be your guide through the wilderness, giving you the knowledge you need to cope with the feelings of panic, and get busy building a successful life for yourself.
Let’s go, shall we?
