I am Quitting My Job!
Yes, that is right – I am quitting my job – I gave my boss a four-week notice yesterday. I feel like such a coward leaving him with all the projects we have on hand, but I have to follow my heart.
I have so many ideas (all related to polymer clay) that it became impossible to continue cutting them short.
I had a nice balance between work and play for a while. I am a senior development chemist at a pharmaceutical company, and so I was happy doing science by day and art by night. Then art began prevailing. First it started cutting into my family life. With two kids in elementary school and our busy schedule (we are swimming together a few times a week), I never had much time left for clay, so there was not enough room for expanding. I found myself staying up late at night, doing less cocking and cleaning (thank goodness for the help of my husband and kids), and spending weekends in my studio… After awhile, that was not enough.
I tried to collect my ideas for some distant indefinite future, filling up one notebook after another with my sketches. But just capturing the ideas for my sculpted jewelry is not all. I want to teach more, I want to write more articles about polymer clay and more tutorials for my site, I want to do a lot with the site itself, I want to do shows…
So now I am taking the next step. July 6 will be my last day at work, and then I will be free to see how far I can take my interest in polymer clay and teaching.
Although this is something I was dreaming about for a long time, actually doing it is scary. I am all numb inside. I am welcoming this change and afraid of it at the same time…
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4 comments:
Congrats, Eugena! I took a similar "leap of faith" 3 months ago, quitting my job to concentrate my own things (a home web design business plus polymer clay).
I hope you'll find that all the fear & excitement you're feeling now -- and all the busy-ness of the next few weeks -- are very much worthwhile. I wish you all the best as you transition into your new life!
"Anything I've ever done that ultimately was worthwhile initially scared me to death." -- Betty Bender
Dear Angela, thanks a lot for your support and the quote (it’s excellent!). It is very comforting to hear it from a person “who’ve been there, done that”. I wish you the best and hope you are getting more satisfaction from your new career.
I'm sure you will do well! With a scientific/technical side and your being such a creative person, I'm sure all will go well for you. Maybe you can lend your expertise to the polymer clay companies so they can produce a more consistent clay. Congratulations!
Congratulations and all the luck! I wish I was brave enough to do the same, but the risk is too high...
I wish you all the best!
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