Lost...in space!

Having time on my hands has been crucial in my learning the various tools and tech to grow into what I guess is called a "web professional." At the moment, however, with the distance growing between my feverish 9-5 work life (it was really 8-6/7) and still quite a bit of time remaining before I have to start really generating income (lucky girl!) my daily enthusiastic productivity has degenerated into sleeping late and doing anything but advancing toward my career goals. It is, after all, lovely perfect October out there. Originally, I left my job thinking I was just leaving unfair job demands & compensation. I knew I was stressed and frustrated, but I didn't realize the scale or scope of it. I've seen the tension dissipate and am finding a steady, increasing infusion of interest & enjoyment in many things I didn't even realize I had become insensible to (people in general, for example). Perhaps I'm afraid taking steps toward employment will necessarily involve a personal loss of ground.

But! A girl/woman must make a living. I have the skills now to haltingly patch together a complete website (contact form! shopping cart! twitter feed! now even with a CMS!). Perhaps I set myself up to freeze up the moment I posted a launch date on my web portfolio. Shame on the dread I feel when presented with deadline. Of course the point is for me to gain proficiency & synthesis, so I guess I just need to set my sights on smaller bits of the big scary portfolio (&ostensible ticket to my first freelance jobs). From a freelancing article on sixrevisions.com, "Combine studies with practical experience by taking on personal projects, volunteering, and accepting small easy projects before moving onto bigger, more demanding ones." I'm lucky in that I have a number of projects of my own and others, I just haven't known which to work on first. I'd been dismissing the simple ones, and trying to force my way forward on the more prestigious ones. Now I realize I should just start with the easy ones and gain my footing & (hopefully) momentum. I suppose whatever I accomplish by the time the portfolio is launched will be all the more honest a representation for it.

So, I guess it's time for lunch, and then work on my idea for a community blog (potagers and pans) for my friends, family, & acquaintances to post pictures and recipes from their kitchen & kitchen gardens. Very simple, but there will be writing, photo gathering, some time getting to know tumblr and its theming, and then campaigning for contributions & readers. I'll be sure to link the results.