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Digging Ditches

There is a legend in my family about my grandfather's first weeks after he left the Navy. The government was going to pay for him to go to college or learn a trade. He was undecided about a career, so he decided to dig ditches.

That lasted for a week.

He still don't know exactly what trade he wanted to learn, but he knew that digging ditches wasn't part of the plan for his life. Eventually, he became an apprentice with a locksmith, learned the trade, and became one of the most well known and respected locksmiths in the state of Florida.

People still talk about the "Old Locksmith" who could open any safe.

I've been thinking about this story quite a bit this week. My dream is to write full-time. I can so see myself sitting at the beach or in the middle of the woods with my laptop that I hope to own one day and an idea.

With this in mind, I've been actively searching for freelance work. I accepted a job last week that has turned out to be more than I had in mind. The work is relatively easy, but it's just a bit frustrating.

The project is boring, and seemingly impossible to do with any shred of writing dignity. How many different, original ways can I possibly describe the EXACT SAME THING!

Sigh. I suppose this is my equivalent to digging ditches. I'll plod through this "back-breaking" work and get it done. I'm not sure how much more of this I can do and still maintain my sense of self.
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Comments

Christy said…
Ugh. I'd love to offer a "hang in there," but that never pacifies me and I'm sure it wouldn't help you much either. It sounds pretty sucky. So close to what you want to be doing, but that makes it even more frustrating.
6:00 PM
frabjouspoet said…
Thank you. It is pretty sucky. I'm actually writing 50 articles about how to write blogs. They each begin with, "How to Write a Blog Post About ___" What's even funnier was this person's request that each article stand on it's own, for those people who only read "certain pieces that [this person] has written." I love that line!
5:08 PM
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