Unlearning the Lie of Unworthiness

“What do you do for a living?” It seems an innocuous question, but I find it challenging. Sometimes, it seems the better question would be “What don’t I do for a living?” I’ve heard some people use the phrase multi-passionate, which I detest, even though it is relatively accurate. But it sounds flaky, and I can’t stand the thought of coming across as flaky. I write that, realizing I can, at times, be a flaky as a croissant.

At this moment, I am working toward turning my main source of income — helping (mostly self-publishing) authors create, publish, and market their books — into my side hustle. My goal is to move into art and creativity coaching in a more permanent way. That said, I may have to figure out how to put the whole unwieldy ball of clay together, because writing certainly has a place under the creativity umbrella. Please bear with me as I navigate the process of learning how to bring all my many skills, talents, and interests together into something that resembles an actual career and more than just pays the bills.

I have a handful of author clients right now whom I love. I love them as people, and I love their projects. And, of course, because it has been paying the bills for such a long time, I still entertain queries from prospective new clients. The person I want to tell you about today is Jay.[1] He’s a building contractor from the Boston…