Kinda hiatus, but more like life got in the way
I realized this morning while I was sending out my “portfolio” for a job application, that I haven’t published here since June. Hmm. While I have been dormant here, I have been doing some freelance writing for Vonigo. So not totally dormant, but certainly not at the level I could do (or used to do in my 10 posts a day era). So, for a guy who says you have to write every day to keep the saw sharp, what’s the deal?
I’ll tell you. The story begins with June, because that’s when stuff started to get weird.
June: It gets real weird
I come into work one day (as we do) and Director of Marketing (and my boss) has resigned. What should have been a nice transition over a week (at least) was a couple days. I offered, and accepted, stewardship of the department for the next quarter, because literallyat the same time a new Global Head of Marketing was hired at HQ in Europe. I needed to keep the ship on course (my tag line for the quarter was “Don’t sink the ship”) until we knew what was going on. Still…
Huzzah! A single person with management backing to run marketing for the company! A vision! A plan! I had chats with the new guy and it seemed all good. I told him what was planned for the next bit, the biggest thing being a major conference in September, and I was off and running.
Then reality hit me like a steam train.
Turns out I inherited a mess. A department of three people and I inherited a mess. How is this possible? It was. There was a lot of poor communication, a lot of half-done things, and more than a few bridges to be repaired to keep the not sinking the ship goal alive.
The long and short of it is that July through September meant I had zero time for writing for myself. I wrote a lot for work, most of which will never see the light of day or were internal documents, but no mental space to work through my own words.
The conference came and went?—?successfully I might add?—?and off to HQ I went with the rest of the leadership team for the annual state of the company thing. This is when the handwriting started to appear on the walls that things might end badly and soon. I stuck it out. Against a lot of signs to the contrary I tried to invest myself in work.
It wasn’t working. Everyone knew it. I had been dealt a couple hard body blows and was trying to keep my feet. I wasn’t happy. I was worried. I was angry. Then it hit. Hard.
The October surprise
I come into work after a dark night of the soul that lead to a decision I would fully commit to my job. I needed to kick myself in the ass, change my attitude, and get with the program.
“Tris, could we chat in the boardroom?”
“Sure, what’s up, how can I help you?”
“Today is your last day.”
“Fuuuuu….”
And like that, my world collapsed. Done. A year and a half in and the marketing department in North America was dissolved. I could stay the day, but I opted to get the hell out of dodge as fast as I could.
I did.
The company treated me well. The decision was made against the wishes of many people, but it was made. I was laid off. Unemployed. I had a nice severance and benefits for an additional month (dentist here I come!). All good. I started looking for work right away. All of the “you’re amazing, awesome, and talented, you’ll be snapped up soon” had me buoyed that this would only be a month or two on the bench.
Oh hi January
Needless to say, given the opening paragraph, I haven’t been scooped right up. October to now has been a rough ride. More applications than I can count (I have records, but I don’t look at them), a few interviews, a few “we’re going in a different direction” or “we need someone with a little more of a really hard to find skill than you have” rejections. I picked up a little freelance work (above) that has been fun. It’s not a lot, but it gets me to write a couple times a month.
The honest truth is that when you think you’re shit, being a dad full time, looking for work, doing household stuff, and heading into the holidays, you don’t have much mental space to write. It’s just not there.
Writing something with oomph needs enough mental space to let the words come out. That’s hard to do while making sure a precocious toddler doesn’t wreck the house. At the same time my wife was working seven days a week and hitting her own burn out levels.
Two parents, two partners, both hitting the red line for different reasons doesn’t make for much fun. We’d get a little time together at night after said toddler was (finally) asleep, I wasn’t going to take that time away to squirrel away and write.
Not that I even felt in the mood for writing.
It was a struggle be in a mood for living, much less birthdays or the Holidays, so writing was so distant a thought I could dismiss it with a click of the Apple TV remote to watch one more episode on Netflix.
The nag to write, the itch to write, it was still there, but it was too hard to get there to do it. Every time I thought about writing something I was left with the empty feeling deeper than writer’s block. This was writer’s abyss. Writer’s prison where the finest papers, pens, inks, and pencils sat on a beautiful oak desk just out of reach. I just couldn’t muster the energy, or ideas I felt worthy of exploring, to sit down tap the words out.
The freelance writing was fine, and I was stretching my creative muscles. It felt good, but like heading back to the gym after years away, I was drained after writing a few pieces. So, the weeks went by. The months passed. And here we at at mid January.
Wow, six months. That’s a long time for someone who calls themselves a writer.
This morning I was sending out an application for a content marketing position and it struck me that my latest post was June. Freakin’ June since I published something here.
Crap.
Well this won’t do at all (the Nanny McPhee/Mary Poppins voice in my head says). If I want to continue my career as a content marketer I have to generate some damn content!
Which I do. So I shall.
Thankfully my beloved toddler is going back into daycare this week. I’ll have blissful hours to listen to music (that’s hasn’t come out of Disney Studios). Putter a bit. Think a bit. Cook a lot (cooking is my other passion, and it’s probably the only thing that’s kept me sane-ish).
And write.
Why yes, you can hire me.
The subtext in all this is that, yes, I am available to be scooped up, as it were. Ideally, I’m looking for a full-time content or digital marketing position around Vancouver. I’m also more than open to remote positions. I love working from home, it would let me cook up a storm for creativity (and nourishment), and have time with my family too. Remote work suits me very well. I’ve been doing it on and off for 18 years, so I’m an old hand at the pros and cons.
I’m happy to freelance too. Freelancing pays the bills. I can write about nearly anything. Tech is my best fit, but you want something about science or cooking or parenting or marketing or strategy… Heck I’ve even written about garbage bags (critter repelling garbage bags), if that gives you an idea of my range.
I can also help with content, digital, and marketing strategies. My LinkedIn profile has all the details about me, if you’d like to check me out a bit first.
If you want to ping to talk, zap me a line at tris (at) trishussey.com. Love to see if we might be a fit, even if you need only a few posts right now.
Until then, my toddler is getting quiet. And that’s never a good sign…
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