Summer is finally ending. Things are coming to an end. But new things are beginning, too.
Last week was full of goodbyes. Robin Williams committed suicide. So heart-breaking. Really knocked the wind out of me. Turned out, he had the beginning of Parkinson's disease. He didn't want to live with it. So he hung himself. So sad. He was the same age as my mom. I cried. I watched Hook and The Birdcage on Netflix. I didn't know how else to mourn.
While I was crying about Robin Williams, I learned from Facebook that a former AU professor of mine, Prof. Dotty Lynch, had died from melanoma at the age of 69. Here is her obituary in The New York Times, Dotty Lynch, pollster who saw the gender gap, is dead at 69.
Just such a sad week. A former classmate of mine asked me if I wanted to attend Dotty's funeral with her. I said yes. I was grateful that I had the opportunity to attend the funeral. I honestly felt like I needed a funeral. I needed a space and a time to cry with others. To cry about Dotty, Robin Williams, my dad's stroke, my mom's depression, my airplane trauma, my friends' heartbreaks this summer, the shooting in Ferguson, the wars in Gaza and Syria, the plane shot down in the Ukraine, etc, etc, etc. It felt like there was a lot to cry about, a lot to mourn. So I went to Dotty's funeral. And I cried. And I really do think I said goodbye to the summer. Goodbye to the traumas. It was all over. It was time for a new season to begin.
And it feels like a new season is beginning. I love being a freelance writer, but I don't want to worry about money anymore, so I have started to apply for admin jobs again. I applied for three part-time admin jobs at American University. I'm really hoping to get an interview any day now (crossing fingers).
This is what I want. I want to work three days a week as an admin at American University. Then I want to have two other days a week to work on creative projects, freelance projects, and writing projects. That is the life that I want. Do you hear that, Universe? That is the life that I want. I need more financial stability, but I don't want to go back to the 40-hour work week ever again. I'll miss the money, but it's a sacrifice work making. I have art that I want to make. Life is too short to spend it in an office for 40 hours a week.
Below is a picture of me, Ted, and Landon on the set of Church Night TV.
It was a great day. It was a long, hard, and exhausting day, but a great day. I will always want time in my life for things like Church Night TV, The Austin Movie Show, and my own novel. My novel. The thing that's going to make me rich. My great love story. I can't give up on it. It needs to be born into this world.
And speaking of that love story, here's a picture of me and Eric at Tara's fabulous birthday party.
A hard summer is coming to an end. But I am grateful. I am grateful that I am still here. I am grateful that I have this precious time to write in my blog. I am grateful for my friends, my family, and my adorable partner. I am grateful for my health. I am grateful for my home. I have a fabulous, FABULOUS life. Even when life is traumatic, my life is still very, very fabulous.
Happy Friday, friends. And I wish you all fabulous lives.
Love,
Leila
