Episode 1: Intro

Hello, friends! I’m your host, Crys Cain, coming to you from beautiful Costa Rica. I don’t mention that to make you jealous. I actually need to apologize for the birds. I’m recording this early in the morning so that I can avoid traffic sounds, but the birds are loud pretty much all day. If I wait until night, I run into frog noises. Hopefully the ambiance will be pleasant rather than annoying.

Okay! I’ve been planning this podcast for a while and I originally wanted to focus on non-traditional measurements of success, particularly in publishing. I’m a six-figure author, though all my books are under super secret pen names, and I’ve followed the book-a-month or more model for almost three years. Earning a lot of money is great, I’m not going to lie, but it turns into a rat race. There’s always a push to write more, more, more, publish faster. And I hit a point where that just became bullshit. Sorry, you’re going to hear me swear a lot. I have the mouth of a sailor, though I’m learning to tone it down as my three year old has become a parrot.

But success isn’t what’s on everyone’s minds right now. It’s definitely not what’s on mine. COVID-19 is turning our world into a pre-apocalyptic backstory and I’m separating from my husband of eleven years. 

Writing is hard right now. Publishing is unsteady. But I still have to put food on the table and pay my rent. And this won’t be the last time that adversity strikes. Not for me, and not for you. Every challenge we face is an opportunity to reevaluate and shift our mindset. Whether it’s a break up, the death of a loved one, job loss, a new baby, health issues or a global calamity (all things I personally have faced in the last three years), they each force a shift in how we look at our lives. I encourage you to look at these challenges as opportunities instead of setbacks.

I still want to talk about success, but the root of even that idea is that I want to talk about freedom. The freedom that escaping into our writing provides our minds. The freedom that earning $500 a month from your writing gives your family. The freedom that making a full time living from your creative endeavors gives you from worry, stress, and the sense that your best life is still waiting for you.

In light of the global crisis, where many of us have been forced to change how we live our lives, a lot of people are re-examining values they’ve taken for granted. Does your job really matter if it means you might catch a disease that kills you or those dear to you? How many different meals can you make out of the same five ingredients to avoid going to the store? How much stuff do you really need to buy? (And seriously, folks, we don’t need that much toilet paper. Look up DIY bidets. Or order one on Amazon.) 

That might sound silly, but those are all expressions of freedom. You don’t need to be locked into anyone’s idea of necessary. You don’t need toilet paper. You don’t need to make a completely different dinner every night. And you don’t need that job that sucks the life out of you.

And let me take a moment to recognize those people who are continuing to put themselves at risk to fulfil necessary functions. The healthcare workers, the sanitation works, the grocery store workers, firefighters, cops, janitors, and thousands of others I’m probably not aware of. They are fighting the current situation on a level I can only imagine.

It may seem a bit woo woo or cliche to suggest that one of the best ways you can thank them for their sacrifice is to make the most of this time for yourself, but I’m going to say it anyway. And if you’re listening to this months or years from now, which is March 2020, and you’re going through a completely different hard time, consider how you’re going to honor the people supporting you.

You get one chance at this life. If something inside you has been crying out to be creative, to live a creative life, and “life” has been holding you back… please evaluate your priorities now. We all deserve freedom. We need to model freedom for our children. Take a chance on yourself. Write that book. Publish it. And then keep going. Write your way to freedom. Whatever that means for you. 

I tend to respond to stress by what Brene Brown calls “over functioning.” Which means that it’s easy for me to double down and level up under stress. If you’re like me, right now is a great time to focus on this. Or make five dozen loaves of sourdough. Whatever floats your boat. If you’re not that kind of person, don’t be hard on yourself, but I still encourage you to consider what changes you want to make once life gets around to some semblance of normal.

I’ll be interviewing other authors about topics like fear, success, and working through hard times—all the things that keep us locked into external expectations and well-beaten paths. My path won’t be the same as yours, and neither will my end goal. That’s how it should be.

This is just a short intro episode, but I’ll be back soon. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you. Tell me: what is your definition of freedom? You can leave your comment at http://www.writeawaypodcast.com If you’d like to support this podcast, you can do so at https://ko-fi.com/cryscain. Until next time, write away.