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Tuesday, September 28, 2010

E-Silence - A Resume - And a Deadline

I've been off-line for a few days.  I'm not sure if that's ever happened before.  But there it is - a total disconnect and I can't say whether it was refreshing or not - what it felt was strange.  But a combination of good weather after weeks of bad, other obligations and a bout of summer flu led to the whole event.  But now I'm back.

So in the e-silence what did I learn?  Well, first off I learned that when a deadline is a month away that isn't that far off, a month goes by in no time - October 1 is the end of this week!  I decided weeks ago that maybe it wasn't a bad idea to apply for a writer's grant.  I've never applied before and as a last minute decision, I've missed the pre-planning sessions.  Not to let that stop me.  I'll just apply my own interpretation to the application process.  Yeah, we all know how that works out.

Anyway, on to the next dilemma - I need a resume.  A writing resume - who would have thought.  That meant hours of going through my files, e-trails and other odds and ends.  Three hours go by and I have finally cobbled a rough draft together and move on to the polish.

In all this I learned many things - but one that stands out.  If you're serious about something, anything - in this instance a writing career, start recording your progress now.  It's not that easy to discover the  name of that instructor who taught that fantastic course on - insert any number of question marks here or the link to that online magazine that was the first that actually paid for your work.  The information was filed ages ago on a computer now defunct - I guess that would be another lesson.

It's been an arduous tour of collecting remnants of facts but finally it is all pieced together.  It's rather like a photo album dusted off and gleaming that reminds me that in the chaos of being published, struggling for a foothold and taking another tentative step that there's more.  There were all the bumps and curves, the successes, the amazing people that have reached out and helped at the most unexpected times - the resume has unraveled it all.

Not to use cliches - never mind I will - I couldn't see the forest for the trees.  The small steps sometimes become so numerous that you can't see where you may have traveled or if you made any progress at all.  The process of creating a resume made it all clear.  Even if I'm not where I want to be - I've come a long way.

So to de-stress - I'm looking forward to one of my fave things - a made for TV disaster flick.  What can I say, we all have our vices.  Yours?

Ryshia
For All Time
www.ryshiakennie.com
Ryshia on Twitter

8 comments:

Jillian said...

Being offline can be a blessing and a curse! I find my days without the internet can be both very relaxing and very irritating.
Congratulations on getting some serious work done, though!
You deserve some quality (or not-so-quality) tv time!
I must admit I find myself watching a lot of made for tv sci-fi movies. One about a mutant shark/octopus hybrid comes to mind...
Knowing I don't have to deal with flesh-eating monsters on an everyday basis makes me feel better about my life.
:)

Ryshia Kennie said...

Jillian - I like your spin on "not so true to life" movies. Now it's off to find something completely unrealistic to watch on TV.

Chris J. said...

I enjoyed your blog.
I love watching tv and it helps to relax me after a long day or just to make me laugh.
I love being online and connecting with my friends,family and authors and the addicting games of fb. :)

Nancy said...

I went offline for a few days when our internet service went down, and thought I'd never make it. However, I caught up on reading, writing hand-written letters, and some reality tv time.

I wish I had your ambition and spunk. Just hearing about everything you've done in such a short time makes me feel very, very lazy.

I enjoyed looking over your blog tonight!

Ryshia Kennie said...

Chris - I love watching my favourite programs too. TV lets you go into autopilot, more relaxing than a book as you can engage in the program or not. Of course, time spent in front of the tube can creep up on you. I try to keep it contained - but some days LOL

Ryshia Kennie said...

Nancy - thanks for your comment. Isn't it interesting how our accomplishments look different when seen through the eyes of others.

The Scarf Princess said...

I applaud you being able to disconnect from the online world. I honestly can't do it. I get all shaky and I don't know what to do with myself if it weren't for the internet. I feel like I'm missing out on stuff and it ruins my daily schedule. So yes, my name is Jody and I'm addicted to the internet.

joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com

Ryshia Kennie said...

Jody - laughing - I think you're in good company.