Really real life post.

For 6 or more years, when people would ask what I did, one of the things on my list was chainmaille.

I’ve never done chainmaille professionally, I’ve only sold a few pieces here and there, did a few flea markets but never really sold much.  Honestly, selling things takes all of the enjoyment out of it for me so I’d rather make things and give them to people I care about, when the mood strikes me.

But either way, I consider chainmaille something that I do, I don’t need to make money at it, I don’t need to do it full time, it’s still a pretty intense hobby and something I spent a lot of time thinking about and working on.  I’m not great at it, I haven’t invented new weaves, but I can follow a pattern pretty well and I’ve taught a few people how to make their own jewelry.

I even made a kick ass necktie with about 2700 rings that took me far too long but looks fucking amazing.

But, that’s not where I’m going with this post.

I didn’t need to do chainmaille for a living to easily consider it something that I did.  I enjoyed it, I put a lot of time and thought into it, and it was part of who I was.

For some reason, I’m having  hard time thinking of myself as a writer.  I mean, this is becoming something I spend a lot of time thinking about.  I think about topics to write about, word choice, how to get my point across in ways that are clear and concise.  Over time I’ve seen that my writing is improving the more I do.

I may not make money with it, that isn’t something I’m looking to do now and I may not ever do it in the future, but, is that really a requirement to listing it as something that I do?  I don’t write books, I don’t write articles, but I do write informative pieces that other people gain something from.  I write things that other people see and enjoy.

I still don’t know why that question “What do you do?” becomes such a big deal for me, but for now, it seems like writing is another thing that I do.

At the very least it’s a hobby that I’m getting a lot of enjoyment and fulfillment from.  It still feels weird to say it’s something “that I do” because I’m not a writer, but I am writing.

I’m not really sure what the difference is between the two, but it feels significant.