New one posted up on KeepAlbanyBoring.com. I really liked this album, and it has been playing for the past couple weeks now. I've been blessed with a lot of dope music lately, and this album does not disappoint. It's also mad weird. Refreshing.
No good reason to stay is a good reason to go
One of my favorite writers once wrote, “Leaving New York was easy.” After over a year of that line haunting me, I’m not so sure how easy it is.
When you live in an area for your entire life, in my mind, it’s a special thing. Networking is easier, circles become smaller, relationships feel realer. Family is close by. Friends come and go, but a solid pack remains always. You can do things like instantly get access to events for your writing with one email, or have people recognize you directly from your work. You can begin new endeavors and already have known resources available. There are a lot of perks in my mind.
For me, Albany will always be home. I’ve always been a local enthusiast and excited to be here. In the past year, maybe two years, I’ve had it on my mind to move somewhere new, and that both burdens and blesses me. I’m ready for change, but still, I find myself wickedly afraid of it. To the point where I know what I need to do to change my routine (to be happier) but am still doing the same thing because it’s easier and comfortable. It’s getter closer and closer to me buckling up and doing it, at least temporarily. You can’t walk in circles forever and expect to see some new scenery.
I’ve had opportunities here that I may not have had elsewhere. But what about the opportunities I don’t have here, that I may have elsewhere? That’s going to become the driving force. For me, and where I’m at now, it’s a matter of “how,” not “when.” And I’m going to do it.
Leaving New York could be easy. It really could.
I guess you can say the real world freaks me out
I've spent years honing my craft, and being a total dork. In high school and college, I busted my ass and worked harder than I have ever worked. Doing it all, balancing everything from sports, to newspaper, to my own DIY zine, to a radio show, to planning a monthly party, to maintaining a blog daily, etc., I was a very busy lady. Now that I'm 24, several years out of college and currently unemployed, I can't help but feel like I've hit a huge plateau in my career. I felt confident that I earned the title of a writer, and now I feel like it's slowly but surely being taken away from me and my lack of motivation and productivity. The reality is, with writing, if you don't do it every single day, you will lose it. I don't know what is going to happen next, but I know I certainly don't want to lose it.
I had a job interview last week that required me to wear a full pantsuit. I don't own anything remotely close to the business professional category. I borrowed one of my mom's suits and had friends tell me I looked like I was signing up to be a mob boss. But while I find that unfair, I will admit I did look a little bit ridiculous all cleaned up, wearing heels with pinstripes and trying to fake it 'til I make it in the business professional world. (At least for this one opportunity, I did my best).
With the writing that I do, especially for various online publications, the name of the game is to adopt and know your audience. For this particular job, the audience was a large, intimidating crowd of faceless figures to me that made me want to fall silent and shuffle out of the spotlight. I tried to be confident in displaying my skill set, but there was a voice in the back of my head telling me this might not be the position for me.
If you don't know your audience or know where to begin, the right words won't come to you. Just gets me thinking - just how far do I have to compromise what I'm really good at to find a job that will pay me? Is a technical writing job my next step? Am I going to have to kiss blogging goodbye to pay my bills? A lot of job openings in the media field seem to all fall into marketing, which I don't have much experience in. Again, all about how you adopt.
As it stands, my dream job is still to work on an established magazine working on feature articles and interviews with interesting, creative souls. And I am thankful that my time to search for the right opportunity hasn't expired just yet. Onto the next one...