If I Wasn’t a Writer, I’d Be….

Prompted from Ksenia Sein and Michele Thill

A prompt that left me stumped.

I thought, I thought and I thought some more.

Then I read. Then I started to write, still having no idea what to write.

I recently exited a 20 year career in accounting software sales, support and development to heal and be a better mum.

I am only just finding out who I am consciously. No longer riding the waves of expectation and shoulds.

To confine me to a single label as “writer” in the first place feels nice, BUT at the same time also makes me feel confined.

I am more than just a job title or description. It is why my LinkedIn profile is so loose!

A role or a title.

It sets off alarm bells of a pre-defined human resource created job advertisement and checklist. I shudder at the thought. Trying to fit into a list of expectations. Many of my beautiful friends and sister in law are HR experts, I know their jobs are important… it just doesn’t feel right for me anymore.

None of us are just that. We are each so much more.

While I wish I could answer and say I’d be a photographer, a traveller, a carer, a mother, a friend, a daughter, a partner, a sister, a niece, a cousin, a neighbour, a colleague, a writer, a smiler, a lover, a crier, a sky appreciator, a drawer, a creator, a human, an ocean lover, a tree hugger, a food lover, a reading enthusiast, a librarian, a teacher, a taxi driver, a tour provider, a student….and the infinite list of possibilities…. It still wouldn’t come close to representing who I would be.

These labels give us ideas and sometimes incorrect judgements of who someone is.

We all know on some level we aren’t our job title….but it doesn’t always stop us from thinking about someone based on it.

Think about the letters at the end of some names. These letters can promote trust for some, or intimidation for others. I know they are needed to represent qualifications, but they don’t always represent life experience. They don’t tell us who a person really is.

Whilst I respect and admire the energy and dedication to earn these letters, I also feel they place a certain weight on the importance of a person.

We are all important.

Each of us has infinite potential within us that can be hidden by a role, or title.

A person who reads well from a resume point of view, doesn’t always shine as brightly as expected. I have found in my meagre time in various roles, that it is those with qualities as beautifully outlined in Henery X (long)’s or Bob Jasper’s pieces

are the ones that make the most impact.

There are some qualities that can’t be taught from a textbook, job title or certificate.

Character and qualities quickly become evident when you work closely with someone for a week.

These to me need to be what shines when we talk about what we do.

How do we contribute to the world?

Not defined by a role or a job title.

How do we show up in our day? How do we treat our family when we get home? How do we speak to strangers? How do we treat co-workers?

I have taken this away from being a lighthearted prompt…I know. It is close to be an Amy-rant.

It is where my words and thoughts took me today.

So….if I wasn’t a writer…I would want to be a better me, someone who showed up as best I could every day, someone who people could trust, someone who shows compassion, someone who has inner peace, someone who is willing, someone who works at becoming a better person, someone who can admit when they have made a mistake, someone who supports others, someone who smiles and means it, someone who can walk in another’s shoes.

I haven’t mastered the person I hope to be…but I am working on it.

Writing helps.

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for being you.

It was intentional that I didn’t tag anyone..I would end up tagging all 700 odd people I follow… so instead I will leave it as an open invitation to anyone reading to take the nudge and write about what they would be if they weren’t a writer.

Thanks to Sherry once again for starting a ripple. And Michele Thill and Ksenia Sein for rippling the ripple to me. I truly appreciate the nudge…and each of you for being the amazing humans you are.