Hi LaFemme, thanks for your encouragement. To answer your question, my old world was in the performing arts, the new one as a writer/realtor. When you're successful in the arts, lots of people seem envious -- but the realities, especially as you age, are not too attractive. The financial instability became troubling and destructive in the self-esteem department. You must have control over income to feel pride in your life!
I went back to school and have been fairly successful with writing. For awhile I was doing both as one usually filled in the gaps from the other. And the writing offers a real possibility of some very big money, while the performing arts did not. Combining the two, however, also no way to live. So I got my real estate license and built that up as well. This month, something clicked for me. When attending all these parties, I introduce myself now as a realtor who does....(we have a very interesting business model, it's conversation starter). It's a lot better with saying "I'm a writer," as everyone in LA says that -- and even though I'm a successful one, everyone assumes no one is!
Since moving here, though, the performing arts part of the equation has been frustrating. Where I once made nearly six figures, there's so little work left here, I've been hired for very little. So after talking with my life coach about it, I left my labor union after 36 years and stopped going to industry parties. Immediately I felt better, especially not wasting all that time. Most of my party-going is now with the target of meeting new real estate clients, so that immediately made me feel more productive. In fact, I have appointments with three new ones just this coming week!
This has been a challenging month for me, as I attended a party for every one of the last 14 nights -- and did drink at many of them. The last one is this afternoon, and I'm sticking with water. I'm really looking forward to next week, with no more of them, and only business lunches. The positive changes I've been making are kicking in, and as many others have noted, lessen the desire for alcohol.