They say learning new things keeps you feeling young. Well, I’ve got a couple of different learning curves going on; one makes me feel young in a good way and the other makes me feel young in a clueless, scared, crying in my crib in the middle of the night way.
The good one, of course, is my writing. Right now I’m waiting for my first proof copy of Poppytown to arrive. I designed the cover myself this time, unlike with Someday I Will Not Be Ashamed. That one was professionally done. Poppytown‘s cover is fairly simple, but I like it and it looks “real” to me. The question is, did it print the way it needed to? Did I use the file template successfully? Such things aren’t my strong suit. But what a gift to be acquiring useful skills! And what satisfaction to be uploading my second book and realizing I know how to do various steps in the process!
The hard one, of course, is supporting my family member with their new diagnosis. I fumble more often than not, I’m filled with fear and guilt, I constantly worry that I’m offering too much help or not enough, I dread medical appointments because I worry that we won’t get what we need…and self-care? Ha. It’s a good day if I brush my teeth.
It’s an interesting example of the dual existence many of us have; a professional persona versus a much messier private one. I haven’t been thinking of my writer self as “professional” but it is. Even though the material I write about is so personal, I do have a current personal life that it’s okay to keep to myself.
Lori Lynne Armstrong 