All change

And a good start to the year

January has been productive for me. So productive, in fact, that I will likely scale back what I do on Substack.

I’m about to start a full-time job - an administrative post where I’ve been exam invigilating for a while. With the major upheavals of 2024 I am putting things in place for a more stable and peaceful existence, beginning with this important step regarding income as well as job satisfaction. I’ve taken on lots of extra duties at work in the past year and shown what I always knew but struggled to prove without the right access to experience, and that’s that I’ve got a diverse range of skills and that I can be a loyal and valuable employee for a workplace that values folk like me. I’ve finally found a good match and I’m hopeful for the future.

The manuscript I’ve been working on for ages is now with a professional reader, so while it’s out of my hands I’m edging more into short speculative fiction and having some fun with it. It’ll give me time to find a routine and live a little as I settle into my new job and think about where and how I want to be with more financial freedom. Instead of hustling for work, my time can be for me, for my writing, for my friends and what family I have left. I might travel for the adventure and not for work. I’ll keep treating myself to evenings out even if no one’s with me. I’m with myself. Cleared of the fog of things that were pulling me down, I can see I’m good company. The relief is immense, even if there is work still to do and more challenges ahead.

I don’t have a good enough camera to show anything reasonably, but I’ve taken such joy and comfort in seeing the planets aligning in the evening sky throughout January. It’s been such a tough road getting to this point where life won’t have to feel precarious anymore after years of it. I’m grateful you’ve been reading along and supporting that.

I’m not going anywhere, but my posts may become sporadic and more occasional. At the end of the month I will pause paid subscriptions as I won’t need the money anymore, and there are plenty of creatives out there who do. I’m hugely grateful to those of you who have paid for my words. I will work hard with the aim that this will not be the last opportunity to do so.

I look forward to my new phase of becoming. And I hope my story gives hope to anyone else who’s struggling in whatever way that things can be changed.

Photo by Ashwini Chaudhary(Monty) on Unsplash