this i know...

Epiphany:

I am a writer.

I always have been!

I wrote poems as a little girl, I started a newspaper at my elementary school when I was in fourth grade, I was on the staff of the yearbook and newspaper in junior high and high school - and that's just my childhood! Since then, I have penned miscellaneous stories, articles, columns, and features for church and school newsletters, over 25 different print publications, and online resources. I've been the writer/marketing/advertising/promotions/public relations person for my retail design business and for the furniture design & vintage show business I owned with my husband. I have helped other people compose blog posts and content for their sites and marketing materials.

And then there's this blog.

I've poured out my heart here, sharing the good, the bad, the shiny and the ugly sides of Deb. Part therapy, part hopeful 'helping hand', I've done it out of some deep desire to connect with people. That is always the undercurrent of writing: To educate, inform, inspire, and connect using words. But deep down, my posts here have always felt to me like a pointless meandering of words on these pages.

But I think I get it now... it was about the writing, not the subject. 
Regardless of what topic I was on, I was writing. Always, always writing. 

As a matter of fact, in every business undertaking and community involvement, I have been the one taking vowels and consonants and combining them to tell stories. To communicate ideas. How many times have I heard 'You really have a way with words, Deb'? And yet I haven't really HEARD those particular words at all.

Well, I am done with being what I have always referred to as 'a shotgun blast' - a big release of energy that scatters in a hundred directions. I am done with feeling like I am never able to give anything my complete attention and devotion. I am done with being a 'Jill of All Trades, Master of None'. There are many things I like to do, and want to do. I am really good at a few things. But I don't need to do all of those things anymore, or all the time. I CAN CHOOSE WHAT TO FOCUS ON!

What freedom there is in that revelation and realization.
It's all up to me to take the step in any direction. And God is leading me, so.... I am going to go where He is leading. I prayed for this a while back, and I have to accept that He IS answering me by all that is happening in my life.
Decision made:

Hi, I'm Debi Ward Kennedy/Deb Kennedy.
I am a WRITER!

And that's exactly what I am going to do. I am going to WRITE.
I am going to write for this blog, and for the lifestyle magazine for which I write a regular column and editorial articles, and for the retail industry publication that I contribute regularly to. For those amazing opportunities, I am eternally grateful. I am also going to write in pursuit of other as-yet-unseen opportunities to expand my experience.

My writing allows me to discover, explore, travel, learn, experience, grow, create, design, fabricate, decorate, style, photograph, contribute, meet new people, and live in a way that puts a smile on my face. All of the things I enjoy. Writing is a doorway to a new life.... one I sorely need.

How and when and what I get paid is in God's hands right now, not mine.
I am just going to do the work that He's putting before me, calling me to do, and consider myself to be an employee on His payroll. I did say I wanted to work for someone I could trust ;0)

Let me ask you this, my friends: When you look at all of the things you do well, and love to do, what is it that connects them? What is the thread of similarity that runs through everything? Look hard, and you'll find it. And in so doing, you may just discover your true calling after all.