Back to Life, Back to Reality

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For the past five years, I've often felt like I'm the printer from "Office Space" - all jammed up and occasionally beat on in an open field. I let life overwhelm me. Pure and simple. Five years is too long to feel that way.

I was sad and bitter to go through pregnancy loss...and the loss of my father. I was gravely disappointed over the results of the 2008 Presidential election. I was beyond angry at the ordeal my husband went through with his former agency. I was beaten down after going through health issue after health issue. I was discouraged over feeling like my freelancing was constantly taking three steps forward and two steps back and not achieving the numbers I wanted. And I was damned exhausted balancing a full-time job, freelancing, starting up a media/publishing company, supporting my husband's wacky schedule, trying to be the best mom possible and trying to get healthier in the meantime.

And so, I shut down for awhile. I stopped blogging. Dribs and drabs for a year or so and then nothing. I posted to friends on FB and Twitter, but nothing longer. I avoided things I didn't want to deal with at all costs. I lost my nerve for taking risks and became afraid of simple things, such as getting on an airplane or even going down a bounce-house slide. I was *not* a great wife or mom.

Earlier this year, I started turning that around. First things first, I quit my job. If a decade of building wasn't enough to make my freelance career sustain, nothing would be. At that point, I got to enjoy more work/life balance. I've been vigorously tackling health issues; by the start of next month, I'll have had 5 surgeries in 21 months...plus, I've been dealing with squaring away a few other health issues. I'm working damn hard to be a better wife and mom. I'm busting my butt getting the media/publishing company into the zone of recurring monthly profits with my business partner. I finished my first novel and am going through edits I got back, polishing it up, before it gets published. I'm freelancing whenever I can and my health allows.

And now, I'm getting back to blogging. I've missed it. Terribly. I own several blogs that are all mine and contribute to several others. Slowly but surely, I'm working on getting back up to speed on all of them.

So...what will I focus on here at Breakfast at Tiffany's? Well, I'm going to drop writing about NASCAR. I'm not a sportscaster, and although I've enjoyed several opportunities to write on the sport for other sites and may do so again in the future, I'm retiring that topic here. I'm going to work on my "Tiffany Takes On" column, tackling stupidity in the news, one story at a time. I'm going to gently sneak back into political blogging - thoughts, not rants. I'll have personal posts now and again. I'll share what I'm up to with writing - freelancing, non-fiction and fiction. And I might even tiptoe into a podcast or two.

It's going to be a process, not a one day victory. I might have fits and starts for awhile. But I hope you come with me! My stats tell me that quite a few people still follow this blog by feed and others through Google and I hope you'll stick with me. I've missed you!