Ch-ch-ch-Changes

Speaking of ch-ch-ch-changes, check out what’s going on at Grace Cathedral!

How’s that for serving a diverse community of locals and visitors?!

Note: Longer article.

I love it when a plan comes together.

As with so many of us the last few years have taken their toll on me.  

It was challenging enough working in a solitary endeavor.

When I left Corporate I went from interacting with dozens of people on a daily basis to less than five.  

It was, to say the least, a shock to the system.

Pandemic lockdown took isolation to a whole new level.  As a way to cope I poured my frustrations into writing novels, nonfiction books, and apps, and though this time period became one of the more prolific, it pushed me straight into burnout.

I was so busy on that hamster wheel I didn’t see what I was doing to myself.

A series of events spread over a year allowed me to slowly and ever so painfully see what was happening.

Great harm.

To make matters worse, that squeaky habitrail wheel I’d put myself on blocked out the soft caring voice of my inner guidance.

With disastrous results.

I am fortunate to have read the Alchemist as it grounded me in the painful process of tuning back into that loving voice.  

You have to drown out the noise in order to hear it and that is far from easy.  

For months I felt like I was in a warbler’s nest full of chicks all vying for attention.

All claiming if I didn’t give it to them some disaster was going to happen.

I didn’t pay enough attention to me and what I needed.

Until now.

I am pleased and proud to announce I am retiring from writing books!  

I will, however, continue to write.

I’d been going in this direction for some time but outside events – the stress of them – kept me from tuning into that reality.

I ran faster on that wheel.

The conversation that changed everything.

I was talking with a trusted friend who helped me see that over the previous decade plus I achieved the goals I’d set for my writing career.

All of them!

In understanding this – owning it – I came to see there was no reason to continue beating on myself like I was.  

I was only harming myself.

Subsequent introspection showed how writing books nonstop had taken me far from who I am.

As a writer and a person.

As Tyrell Terry said, “I wasn’t really doing it for myself.”

Next Stop!

I learned transition is an interesting event, one that doesn’t always start with beginnings.  As William Bridges explains, it can and sometimes does start with endings.  

Including abrupt and unplanned endings.

Out of a place of despair I found a way forward; a way that would help me return to my roots.

As a writer and a person.  

It’s a way of writing that is authentic and will allow me to be who I am.

Someone who wants to make a positive difference in the world.

I’ve no regret over the decision to retire from writing books.

Which in and of itself speaks volumes about being the right decision.  

When I started to get signs from the universe that appear to be giving me a thumbs up, I realized this had been a long-time coming.

I also saw I am far from alone in making such a choice, as evidenced by Tyrell’s heartfelt action.

First was the support of those closest to me.

Who had been watching me struggle with what my career – the severe isolation – was doing to me.  

Next came the observation that peers – many of whom are longtime friends – are going through a version of this same thing.

They are leaving careers and selling businesses that have been taking a terrible toll on their mental and emotional well-being.

It is refreshing to see so many people making deliberate choices to put their well-being as a priority.

Every one of them has expressed how scary it is, how lonely it makes them feel.  Trust me, I get that!

As everything continues to fall in line with this decision I have moments of fear.

And a strong sense of isolation.  

What helps is feeling this is the right change to make!

I will share details about the project in the days and weeks to come.  For now I can say I am retiring from writing books.

Fiction and nonfiction.

Everything currently available will remain available.

I will not be completing the Second Sons series.

I have removed the landing page.

I will be producing material that is in line with wanting to make a positive difference in the world.

That utilizes the framework I’ve built out on elizabethmaxim.com.

I plan to make the transition easy for readers.

Comments are turned on. 

I ask commenters be respectful.

I want to thank readers and visitors for being there.  I look forward to sharing this part of the journey to our mutual benefit.

I’m already collaborating with another artist/professional on some ideas for this new venture.

Stay tuned for exciting things to come!

Including changes to the website to reflect the new direction.