Love the journey

I wrote these first sentences during the night of September 30^th, 2019, at 2:53 am. You’ve got to start at some point, so why not at 2:53 am on September 30^th, 2019? Heavy rain filled the night, which kept me out of my sleep. On top, I was having a friendly fight with a cold. COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus, had not entered our world yet.

While being awake, I started thinking about what I love to do most, because I had committed myself to a project that potentially may end up in full-time employment again. But beyond the usual inconclusive feelings about a new adventure that everyone is dealing with, the belief emerged that doing this project, or job, was just not me anymore.

After leaving my corporate job in 2018, and while doing lots of other stuff, I had been walking around with many ideas. And like many other people, I walked a lot, but I didn’t do a lot with my thoughts. I read lots of books, read tons of articles, followed many creative people on Instagram, and wrote down tens of topics in my Evernote application. All to get inspired. Inspired, I was. But doing was another story.

It led me to the question: so, who am I? Am I this dreamer who, in the end, signs a contract with a company and starts working for a boss again? Or do I execute on my value of freedom, and begin implementing the ideas that I have? And if the latter, how will I start? What will give me energy daily? What provides meaning?

I have been ignoring many of the signals that were given to me daily. Little things that got me inspired at the weirdest moments and in the oddest places. I ignored them because I wanted to keep everyone around me happy. And in the end, who was the one left out? Exactly.

And now, while in the middle of the night, I have a sudden burst of energy. And I know this is me. I have the freedom to explore my ideas and doing something that I love to do. Under one condition, that I execute daily. And that I include my community in my thoughts and my writing.

I’m starting this experiment for 365 days, and I’ll see where it takes me. I need to organize, and I need to prepare, I need to collect ideas, I need to strategize how to include my community, I need to build a daily routine that turns into a habit. And then I need to do and stop dreaming.

That’s what I wrote in September 2019. Fast forward to April 2020. Our worlds have significantly changed since I wrote the first part of this story. I’m in week 5 of the COVID-19 lockdown while adding this paragraph to my third blog post. What has happened to me in the meantime?

Since the initial sentences, I wrote almost daily. It has resulted in 79 stories so far, which I will post step by step on my website. These 79 stories of 500 to 700 words each have proven to me that I indeed like writing. And that I can do it daily. And when doing it every day, I got better at it as well.

Having my website is another milestone. I spent some time building it myself. That’s a skill I didn’t plan to learn, but I took on when this crisis provided me with some time. You’re reading this story on my website. Combining these stories and my site has been a long-term dream. A book is a next step.

QUESTION: What’s still in your dreams?

Welcome to my journey, loving what I do. I appreciate that you’re here and look forward to hearing from you as well. Please sign-up below for more. I appreciate your interest and your feedback.

Erikjan