Living in free agent nation is nothing, if not challenging. Sometimes your daily task becomes trying to find a way around those proverbial bumps in the road. Then, there are those stretches when the stars align and things magically slide into place. When that happens, you find it’s all too easy to get lulled into thinking that this could become the norm.

A project lasting six months, a regular monthly writing gig, or a grant to manage are all examples of the stability that I’m lacking at the moment.

Free agent puzzle-making.

I often explain my adopted career trajectory as being similar to puzzle-making. Sometimes, all the pieces in the puzzle fit together and you are able to coast for a bit. Then, your grant ends, the project is completed, or your writing gig gets cancelled. When these things happen, you are forced to go back to the table, and begin piecing together seemingly disparate pieces.

I’m happy to report I’ve been able to connect enough pieces recently, and I now have a corner of the current puzzle completed.  I’m still struggling to connect the rest of the pieces at the moment.