The Best-Laid Schemes ...

Typically, for the last post of the month, I try to draw attention to different events taking place in the arts & culture world, especially now that so many people in the industry have been sidelined due to the pandemic. But I also occasionally wax effusive about an art- or wellness-related topic that's been recently on my mind or a popular subject that's getting a lot of attention and chatter online.

This post will be neither of those.

Instead, this post is here to announce an important development on the Incandescere platform, as a blog and as a business. When I made my lofty plans for the year to pursue more clients, engage more freelance writers in shared public and safe spaces, and level-up my skillset so that I could grow as a creative professional who would one day lead with the title of entrepreneur, I had a vision of what that success would look like, even if I couldn't imagine what it would look like as it unfolded along the way.

Well, as Rabbie Burns was fond of saying, "The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley [go often astray].”

Starting in the month of April, I will be taking part in a transition process where my focus on freelancing will no longer be as high of a priority for 2021 as I had originally planned. I won't go into details just yet, as discussions are still underway, but I can say that my best-laid schemes are taking a significant detour, and I will embark on a slightly new path that will certainly prove to make 2021 a far more memorable year. (Apparently, those Western and Eastern astrology predictions were right.)

So what does that mean for Incandescere?

It means that I now must shift, adapt and navigate my way through another year of profound change, and do my best to remain flexible, but fierce in the wake of shaping an uncertain present into a glorious and rewarding future.

Will it be easy? Nothing worthwhile ever is. Am I up to the task? You bet I am.

With that said, that means I will be taking my current weekly blog schedule to a biweekly schedule starting in April. You can expect a monthly Steal This Quote, along with at least one other post with a bit more meat, where I share my thoughts on my favorite topics (the arts, wellness, and arts & wellness). Those blog posts will go live bimonthly on Sunday evening/Monday morning. Don't worry. I'll still promote them on my social media accounts (pro and personal), but I may not be as active on those accounts for other everyday interactions.

I will also continue to take on freelance clients interested in my copywriting and content writing services, but only as much as my schedule allows. As far as my freelance articles for magazines and online media, I'll try to fit it into my schedule as much as I can, as long as it doesn't upset my work/life balance.

And there you have it, folks.

Me, moving onto another adventure, while hopefully not biting off more than I can chew. Also me, continuing to maintain my woman-owned, minority-owned, black-owned business at a time when each of those 3 monikers are reason enough to persist and endure.

I'll do my best to keep you, dear readers, in the loop when time permits. But please know I'm not abandoning my blog or my content writing service. I'm simply leaning into the most important lesson I picked up in 2020:

              Open your heart to a bigger plan, and embrace the reality that your path -- and your dream -- may look unfamiliar
               to you after you let go of the need to direct the outcome.

... best-laid schemes indeed.

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Top Image: UX Work (Woman's hands drawing a wireframe) by Kelly Sikkema | Bottom Image: Compass by Aaron Burden