Do What You Love, Not What You Think You Should

by Amy Beth Outland

“Eight of the ten things you have decided about yourself at the age of twenty will, over time, prove to be false. The other two things will prove to be so true that you’ll look back in twenty years and howl.”
—Cheryl Strayed, Brave Enough

What advice would you give younger self?

I always thought the question was trite and ridiculous. But now at age forty-one it makes sense to me. For as long as I can remember I’d wanted to be an English teacher. I went through high school and the idea of going to a four-year university was a no- brainer.

Go to college.

Graduate.

Get your dream job.

Live happily ever after.

 If I could give my younger self one piece of advice, it would be this: Don’t put pressure on yourself to do what you think you’re supposed to. There’s no set order in which you have to accomplish the goals you set for yourself.  Your dreams and goals can change over time. But my younger self wouldn’t have listened to me anyway. Because let’s face it, as a college freshman you think you know everything and it isn’t until about your junior year you look back and realize how little you knew.

I graduated from high school, went through the daunting college admissions process and got accepted to my first choice school. But when I got there it wasn’t anything like I’d expected. I ended up moving home and attending a community college for two years and then transferring to a different four-year university.  This time I felt I belonged there. I didn’t feel, lost alone or afraid. I majored in English Education, excelled in my classes, and developed lasting friendships, many of which I still have today.  Unlike most undergraduate students, I never changed my major. I was so confident I was on the right career path. I’d never wanted to do anything else. I’d never wanted to be anything else.

By the time I graduated from college I was certain I’d find a job in my field of choice within a year.

After all that was what all my professors had told me.

So it had to be true right?

But after five years of diligently applying for every teaching job I could find, and using every networking source I could. I was still unemployed. It got to the point where I was no longer looking for my dream job; I was looking for any job.  I began volunteering at a local hospital and realized something that began as a way to pass the time turned into something I enjoyed. If I wasn’t working at the hospital, I was still applying for teaching jobs. Eighteen months later, I was hired. But I still wasn’t teaching.

I’d always loved writing but I never thought I could make a career out of it.

But I was wrong.

I started doing freelance writing and editing as a way to keep my skills sharp for the time I stepped into the classroom. Although teaching remains an aspiration of mine, I’ve discovered writing is my true passion. I self- published my first novel in July 2015 and I’ve published five more novels to date. I continue to work as a freelance writer and editor and entering writing contests. I love it. And I’m happy. I work from home most days and set my own hours but I work as hard, if not harder than someone with a nine to five job does.  So do what you love, not what you think you should.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amy Beth Outland is a freelance writer and editor with social media experience and a B.A. in English and Type: 09 teaching certification from Illinois State University. In the past, she has worked as a freelance writer and editor for both Writer.ly and Gather.com. She has also worked as an English: 101 undergraduate teaching assistant while attending Illinois State University.

Amy has also had several poems published in the Chicago- based fine arts journals including Exact Change Only, Prevail N Prosper, The Insomniac Propagandist, Poetry in Motion, Reflections & Illuminations, Baby Shoes: A Flash Fiction Anthology, Lessons From Losers In Love: True Stories From Failed Relationships That Turned Into Valuable Life Lessons, Rhubarb Magazine Poetic Hustles: Volume 2: Life Matters and Millennial Voice: Why Do Millennials Think That.

Amy also works as a Guest Services Representative at Franciscan Health in Olympia Fields, Illinois.

All of Amy’s works including, I’m Not Broken, Parallel Hearts, Wildflowers in the Dark, Musings from the Elephant Piano Notebook, and Pink & Sparkly: Personal Stories of How I Roll are available now on Amazon.com or on her website: https://www.amybethoutland.com/

THE DECEMBER BITCH

Write twenty-four poems in one year.

Sounds easy? It wasn’t.

This project was originally titled 24 Poems in 2024, then it became known as The December Project. By the time it was done it became The December Bitch because writing twenty-four poems in a year is harder than you think.

Madeleine L’Engle once wrote, “Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.”
This short but mighty collection was written in the hope that she was right.
There is light and darkness in us all. The struggle to find the balance between the two is what makes us human.

CONNECT WITH AMY BETH OUTLAND!

Website https://www.amybethoutland.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.b.outland
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amybethoutland/