30 Apr Who Am I?

I ‘closed shop’ yesterday about 4pm. It was Friday and I had a list a mile long for the weekend. You see, weekends are when I get to do my fun, ‘frilly’ stuff – like write on my blog, walk the Atlanta Beltline, and meet with my writing group . . . oh, and sleep late.

I was dying to get started.

First, and very large, on the list was the word “F-O-C-U-S.” As a marketing person, I am very much haunted by the fact that I am going in too many directions with my blog. I desperately need to hyper focus and fit my blog into one specific category.

Am I becoming a travel blog? Or am I a second-chapter blog? Do my stories appeal to the 25-44 group or the AARP folks? Do I use keywords like ‘senior* travel’ or ‘re-invention.’

It’s called ‘branding.’ I do it every day for clients. I can do it in my sleep. But I’m struggling doing it for myself.

A literary agent advised me to go the travel route, ‘that’s where the money is.’ Lorda mercy, I love to travel, but there are so many other things I want to do in this second chapter of life. I want to go back to school and take some courses on urban renewal. I want to meet a graffiti artist. I would love to get my pilot’s license. I have a dream of renovating an old brick warehouse. And living in it. I want to get really good at social media. Yep, I’d love to go back to New York again and again. And Vietnam and ultimately El Salvador, where I lived as a child.

Someone described me as a woman’s empowerment site. Yep, I grew up in the bra-burning age but I love men too much to exclude them.

Then there’s the spiritual category.  Ok, I’m very into my faith but hell, I am FAR from understanding enough about it to write intelligently. Plus I have two hard ‘n fast rules in my social media sphere: Never discuss politics and stay away from religion.

I don’t know. I have this wild hair to just live. To make my crazy dreams come true. I hate being told ‘you gotta fit into a category.’

But that’s our world. I must do so to get my blog published { in other words, to make a living } . . . and to get the book I’m writing onto a shelf. Yep, as much as I hate it, I need to FOCUS!

So, I’m asking you: which category should I put myself into?

Travel

Memoir

Mind, Body, Spirit

Self-Help, Motivational

Religion, Spirituality

Or just ‘that damn ol’ woman chasing her dreams’

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* I refuse to use the word ‘senior’ on anything. So there.