Freedom - Oh yeah, I'm all over that!

When I think of Freedom as an individual - much of the concept revolves around Financial vs. Self and the conflict between the two.  Having been raised by children of the sixties, my parents wanted nothing more for me than to be happy.

Well parents - Mission accomplished! 

Now I'm not saying I don't have problems like the rest of the world.  I have illness, bills and some debt.  I hate when simple decisions are made by financial need.  Things like going to a movie, taking a trip, or even picking up a good book.  :(

Considering these items, I'm overall happy with my life. Why? I have the freedom of writing - an opportunity to escape, to a world I love, and make some money along my journey.

These days I tend to be more of a Hobbie Writer - doing it in my spare time when I'm not working the M-F gig to pay the bills.  However, I have big dreams - I plan to gain my financial freedom with my writing.  I don't need millions of dollars, though that would be nice. :)   Thanks to said hippie parents, I've never been one to live much beyond my means. 

My husband, finally achieve his freedom to do and be what he loves.  He went back to school, and now is an instructor to student pilots.

This brings me to the second part of my Freedom concept -self.  When you have to pay bills and meet financial obligations, this requires you to have money.  For most authors this means you have to either, make enough money writing, or keep a job. For most, this tears us between writing and work.  A rock and hard place.  We need to work to make money, but sometimes a job inteferes with our creative process by consuming our time, energy and resources.

What's a writer to do?  There is a school of thought that in order to "make it", you need to focus only on your writing.  Quit your day (or night) job and treat writing as a business.  This might work for some people, but it would not work for me.   I think if I treated my creative process as work, I might not enjoy it as much.  

In order for me to achieve results as a writer, I need to achieve a sense of self.  Who am I?  How do I want people to remember me? If you're not sure, imagine introducing yourself at a community cocktail party (not a conference, not the company Christmas party, and maybe not necessarily your own community).

"Hi my name is Tina."
"Hi Tina.  What do you do?"

There it is- what do you do?  How do you answer this question?  Are you an author?  Do you get into specific genres or only when prodded?  Do you identify more with a title you have at work?  Do you identify with being a parent, spouse or some other connection? 

To say,  "I'm a parent putting two kids through college," does not make me less of a writer.  It's simply my sense of self - right now, at this time, in my life.  As I go on, I will talk about the books I write, and the fortune 500 company I work for.  Identifying my sense of self, helps give way to my goals (where I want to be), and give me a sense of achievable Freedom in my future.  

"You have freedom when you're easy in your harness."  ~Robert Frost