All my life, I was never interested in the business world much. I still am not. I suppose I've always been one of the lucky ones. I realized early that my future was in the world of arts. Writing was always going to be my main focus and there was little doubt over that, as far as I was concerned. When I needed money, writing was always the first solution that I turned to.
Why? It resonated. I liked it.
I've worked in copywriting and content creation for some six years now. It was strange, at first. I took it as a perversion of my natural inclinations towards creative writing. To write for somebody else? But I suppose I was lucky in this, was taken under wing by a bunch of nice, helpful people who made it fairly easy for me to set up a strong reputation.
It was also in the way I structured my work. Working freelance allowed me to be extraordinarily picky with clients. I refused to work with people I considered rude or dismissive of people they could hire on the Internet, and as such, managed to build quite a nice network of clients in my most active working times. I loved learning and being exposed to new areas.
I've never been opposed to work, but I have a hard time stomaching meaninglessness. A soul-sucking, dead-end job that eats up half a day needs to be paid extremely well to be worth it in my opinion. Naturally, I'm aware of the priviledge of being able to choose.
As I grow older and realize the difficulties and at times impracticalities of living solely from creative writing, I'm forced to consider other ways to make money. I try, when pressed, not to let the pressure and heat of the moment nature of needing money to rush me into an unfortunate decision. I try, as I go, to dedicate myself to things that resonate with who I am, still.
So when I saw the question for this week's Ladies of Hive prompt, I wanted to contribute, even where in the past, it wouldn't have been a question that resonated much with me.
If given a chance, what type of business would you like to put up, and why?
In ways, I am given a choice. I'm young enough to have most paths still open to me. I don't have dependent children or elders, nor do I come from a severely disadvantaged background. So given the choice, I would like to build a "business" that feeds my soul, and combines the things I am most intrigued by.
As some of you know, I'm in the process of setting up a yoga practice. Though things are a bit slow to take off, I'm confident I will enjoy teaching yoga, and am already seeing the benefits it's had for me personally.
The first time I taught, somebody started crying after the practice. I admit I was quite stunned. The second time, which was also my exam, two more people did. Afterwards, a friend who'd attended both noted that I structure my classes as both a workout and a psychological journey. It planted a seed. I thought, well, yes.
So if I had to build a business and pour all my energy in it, and do it from scratch, I wouldlike to build a place that focuses on this. I would enjoy a dedicated place, like a cottage or a remote house somewhere.
I'd like a centre that focuses on centre. On unpacking people and helping them gain some insight into what they're going through. Everyone's experiencing something all the time. I'd love to use physical work, like yoga and awareness exercises, and meditation (something I'm still developing, to be honest) to help them experience.
For me, for the longest time, movement and dance were ways of embodying whatever the mind was busy processing (often in therapy). I had some extremely interesting solo dance sessions within workshops and classes that bordered on the transcendental, and came complete with visions. I had, at a time of traversing past transgressions, this impossibly vivid impressions, quite out of the blue, of dancing for and eventually away from the person who'd hurt me. It was quite extraordinary.
So if I could build any kind of business, it would be along such lines. I adore psychology and yoga - they're things I want to delve deeper into, and I can see them fitting into a life of freedom and autonomy, not one where I am tied to a job I despise and can not express myself creatively. So to answer the Ladies' second question, the thing that would drive me would be a mixture of passion and independence-seeking.
And after all, why not? Why couldn't such things be achieved? I do believe we're at times our own worst enemies and put up roadblocks when there really is no need for such.
Spark a thought? Why not join the Ladies of Hive initiative yourself this week? There's still a few days left, and there's always interesting, thought-provoking prompts to choose from.
