What Comes First?

It is time to make another change. My priorities in life have pretty much been - in randomly changing order:

• Family
• Work
• Business
• God
• Me
• Writing

Usually business and family compete for second place right after work. In the midst of the insanity, I try to remember myself and for me that includes time spent with my friends because that feeds me too. And then God has been under me way too long but He's still there, dagnabbit. He's still there.

My writing, on the other hand? Suffering. It's in a coma actually. No real signs of life but I won't pull the plug because as long as I feed it via the writing I do for work and via my blog, it shall live on.

There is a business incubator I have been waiting to take part in. The larger networking group this incubator is part of is based in New York but I was unwilling to go over the state line to do this. Then I found out last year that it had finally come to CT in full force. Not only that, but there is a group operating in the town I work in. Wait! There's more! The group meets in a location around the corner from where I work. Talk about your silver platter offerings. I didn't notice this location the last time I got the email announcing the next incubator was starting. This time I did notice and promptly ran around the block to go find the store and meet the owner.

I loved the feel of the place and her enthusiasm was precisely what I felt when I last went to a larger expo the group had held in NY last year. The feeling of creativity abounds and I just want to soak it all up as much as I can. It’s good for me, it’s good for my creativity and ultimately, we hope it will be good for business. The networking alone should prove fruitful but the access to marketing opportunities are priceless to me.

So I'm going to do it this time. The notice was a little short for my taste but it was short last time too so I suppose it's the norm. It's $300 to sign up and triple digit expenses always give me pause but I know this is worth it. I just wish I had a couple of paychecks to prepare for it but even if I did, there is always something to take up whatever I save up for myself. Thus the life of a mother – she’s usually last to get her wants (if not needs) met.

With all we're planning to do this year in the business, this incubator is coming at just the right time. But my writing? My poor writing is being banished. The at-home course I am in? On hiatus until further notice. My online writing groups? I fear I must go no mail. One of my friends from the group I participate in the most said my business is just as big a dream as getting published. It struck me that maybe all this time, I hadn’t been seeing it quite that way. I’m not sure why but maybe because writing has been on a pedestal and maybe the business should be there too?

It's the weirdest thing to be so consumed by my puzzles. Writing has been my friend forever. We went through high school together. Writing waited patiently while I was in college playing around with Interior Design until I decided English was a better fit. It's gotten me every job I've ever had. I fully expected to spend my business and personal life writing in some way and I assumed when I was ready to try a business of my own, it would be some sort of publication; it was fated, I thought. But my puzzles came out of nowhere and stole my heart. I feel much of my future financial security will be due to whatever success we can achieve with our puzzles and financial security extends beyond me to my children and theirs so it matters, you know? I don’t choose to believe right now that Writing and I are meant to only be friends, with no real depth ever really evolving. We’re already beyond that. But what will happen, I just don’t know. I only know that I have to follow the puzzles right now while the trail is still hot and you, dear reader, must try not to be sickened by all my metaphors and similes. It’s just Writing blinking at me, letting me know not to give up. We will have our moment yet.