The last eight weeks have been unpredictable and quite serendipitous! In my last news update, Strikeout or Homerun?, I was pretty lost and scared. I felt like everything was ending and had no idea what was coming next. I knew I wasn’t content with the current situation, but I wasn’t sure how to improve it. I knew that a great deal of my happiness revolved around being creative and I missed it dearly. How do you get it back? How do you survive at the same time?
It seemed as soon as I started putting those thoughts and feelings to paper, writing again, the world unlocked. My phone started ringing without solicitation. People I had met over a decade prior, others from my past life in construction, and recent ones from the ballpark came to me with a variety of projects. Paying projects.
In doing so, that reinvigorated Surf Star and I quickly saw that if put an equal amount of effort that I had been putting in MLB, I could easily counter that loss of income and have much, much more time on my hands for writing.
No certainty, but a spark. Potential. I just needed to feel that it was okay to dream again.
Feeling good about the new direction, excited in fact, I haven’t been able to leave my desk. The 14-16 hour days I’m putting in now come with a smile. I get frustrated when I have to break to eat. It feels good to be working towards something- purpose.
The conversation eventually arose with MLB, when would I be returning for the new season? Admitting that I wasn’t, to say it out loud, was tough. It was with a lot of heartache and fear of losing an opportunity. However, I brought that honesty to my boss and he surprised me with a solution. What if MLB were to hire Surf Star Media?
I liked that idea quite a bit.
While most things will remain the same, what this offers is freedom. The ability to work from anywhere in the world and them understanding that I have multiple clients. Time has to be delegated appropriately to each contract. Time being the monopoly MLB held over me as an employee.
It feels good to smile when I think of baseball now, instead of resenting it. Who knows what the future hold, but at the moment there is relief and optimism.
SW Hammond
