Are You Ready to Change Your Plans?

Bower Hill Plantation, West Bretton. These gates were to the Bretton Estate. There are plans to change the designation of this footpath to a road. Bellavista Plantation to the left (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us." -- Joseph Campbell, American writer and mythologist        One of the biggest problems with planning ahead is that there are always forces lying in wait to screw things up for us.  It might be the weather, a health crisis, or some other unforeseen thing that broadsides us unexpectedly.  Back-up plans are always advised, but sometimes there is nothing else we can do other than accept what has come our way and adapt in order to continue on with our lives.         The alteration of little plans is inconsequential to us.  It's those big expectations that we formulate in our minds--plans for schooling, career, marriage, and family.    Dreams can be dashed or they may fade away, but when those dreams have  become plans and expectations we stride forward toward the goals we envision.  When a roadblock is put in our path, we have to make decisions.   We might even have to change our precious plans.          Using marriage as an example, most who sincerely go into this union are unlikely to do so with the expectations that it will be dissolved in some matter of time.  The typical couple will probably declare a love for one another and, if traditional vows are recited, will declare that love to the world as well as the intention to continue that love until death separates the two.           Over time people change and attitudes change accordingly.  There are times when the relationships are unable to weather those changes and the plans that were made or mentally assumed are disrupted.  Or even death can intervene to wreck the life that we were planning for the future.  A true permanency of human relationships is not something we can always count on.   No matter how strong our own sense of commitment might be, we might not be able to do anything at all to make things right as we see what we think should be right.          The examples in marriage can be applied to any other plans.  Your job.  Your educational pursuits.  The aspirations of fulfilling your dreams.  We cannot write our lives in words that hold any guarantees.  Our lives are written with words of hope and not promises.   Change can come at any time in our lives and the inevitability is that life will change--everyday, sometimes in imperceptible ways and at others with feelings of catastrophic doom.             We can't change where we've already been, but we can make route adjustments if the road is blocked or our destination is changed.    If we don't keep moving forward then we aren't going anywhere.           I'll be frank about my promotional intentions.  This post is a clue hinting toward my song choice for my Battle of the Bands post this coming Saturday November 15.   I'll admit that the song I'm using will be no piece of cake to guess, but the perceptive reader might be able to guess, especially anyone who knows this song I'll be using.   Here's another big hint:   The album the song originally comes from is named after a city.             Do you agree with Joseph Campbell's quote?    Are you a person who easily lets go or do you tend to fight to the finish even if the battle seems hopeless?      Can you guess the song I'll be using in my next BOTB post?    The artist? Tomorrow November 13th!  Big announcement at the A to Z Blog!     Be sure to visit a-to-zchallenge.com tomorrow and everyday!

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Pay Me and I'll Write: Guest Hijacker Sydney Aaliyah

        I'll have to be honest and say I don't know much at all about today's hijacker Sydney Aaliyah.  She first fell into my radar during the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.   She reveals bits and pieces of herself in her blog posts.  Like from what I gather on her blog she lives and works in China.  There must be a wealth of story fodder in that.  In any case, if you want to learn more about Sydney you'll have to visit her blog Happiness, Passion, Love & Faith.  In this guest spot Sydney ruminates on writing careers.


I am a Hijacker. What?  Be careful what you ask for, I guess.  Ok, well, here we go.

Looking for Direction – Writing Careers

I figured that giving the opportunity to reach an audience considerable larger then my own, I would seek some advice on writing careers.  I have been researching careers in writing for some time now. And, all I need is something to tide me over until I become a famous author.  The choices are a little confusing or maybe I am lazy, but they didn’t seem to find a job that quite suited me. You be the judge?

Ghost Writer - I live my life now doing all the hard work and watching someone else take the credit.  And, I get paid for it, but not nearly enough and the person I work for gets paid a hell of a lot more, so I couldn't do that with something as precious to me as the creative words I write.  Even if the idea is completely someone else’s, I don’t think this is the career for me.

Editor - If you look through my blog, you would quickly come to the conclusion that editing may not be my forte.  I have typos, and bad sentence structure and I have no clue where the appropriate place is for this comma, or that comma.  I just don't see what editors see in order to make someone’s writing better.  (Should that be s’ or ‘s) Ask me if there is hole in the plot or if the story doesn't flow or if there is a confusing dialogue, I can recognize that.  But, don't ask me which version of the word amoeba to use.  Did you even know there was two ways to spell ameba?

Copywriter – To tell you the truth, I am not quite sure what a copywriter actually does. From what I have learned, a copywriter writes sales copy for websites and brochures and such.  Well, I don not like sales people.  Pushy people who try and get me to buy something that I can’t afford and I don’t need.  I am not a sales person. If I like a product I will buy it.  No amount of persuasive language is going to make me want to buy it more.

Blog Writer – You mean, I am supposed to get paid to do this.  Where is my check? I have been writing blog posts for over 6 months, now and haven’t’ seen a dime.  Yeah, well it has been for my own blog and I have no money to pay myself, but why would I waste all this great content on someone else's blog.  (Yes, I recognize the irony in that last statement).

SEO Specialist - I have read numerous articles, read blog post, seen video seminars (waste of an hour of my life) and still I have no clue what it means. I am a smart girl.  But, seriously, have you seen articles about Search Engine Optimization.  They tell you to do this and this and then they say, but you don’t really need to do anything different.  I am so confused and I am sure you are, too. Bonus points for anyone who can explain it to me? 

I am probably ruining my chances of ever being offered a writing job by this post, but I am just kidding.  At this point, if you pay me, I will write whatever the heck you want me to write.  I will have plenty of time to be picky when I become a famous author.

Any other writing careers out there you think I should consider?

Blog:  sydneyaaliyah.wordpress.com

Twitter:  @sydliyah