Success comes about in the strangest of ways sometimes. Since I first started submitting my writings in 2005, I’ve racked my brain, trying to write the perfect query letter, and concocted outrageously-creative subject lines, hoping to capture the attention of anyone who might be on the other end of my e-mail, desperately trying to draw them in with my title and keep a hold of them until the end of my query. In my mind, once I stole their attention, they’d respond with that good news e-mail we all want to receive. That’s what we writers strive for, right? Right.
Remember your grandparents or parents – or even your mentor – saying “sometimes what you’re searching for is right in your own backyard?” It’s true! I’ve tried so hard, with everything in me, to succeed at this freelance life. I’ve gone the extra mile, busting my bohunkus to turn my work in not only by my deadline(s), but early. I’ve been kind, loyal, dedicatedÖ I’ve taken the work ethic my parents taught me to the extreme, fulfilling my writerly duties until I’ve exhausted my eyes, my body, and my mind at times. So, why am I not yet published in The New York Times? Why hasn’t Chicken Soup for the Soul gobbled up my essays?
I have done a lot of things right; however, I went a little too far and searched a little too hard, while missing something that was right under my nose, right in my Muse’s backyard. What I failed to do was look where my passion is the strongest: raw food. Yes, raw food. You see, I’ve studied raw food for years. I’ve even spent months at a time living on raw foods only. I’ve juice fasted extensively – days, even weeks at a time. I started a blog about it. The healing benefits of raw food fascinates me. Food, in its natural form, is like magic. Raw food excites me, intrigues me, and brings me improved health and peace. My “backyard” was overflowing with the success I’d been searching so diligently for, the success I was destined to achieve. It was right there all along, waiting for me to embrace it.
The result? I’ve been hired as a contributing writer for RawPeople.com; I’m also seeing my health blog, Healing with (Raw) Juices, grow and new opportunities are sprouting up like weeds in the garden! Raw Foodists and health companies are sending me double the free products (books, DVDs, supplements, etc.) – one of each to try out and review on my blog, the other(s) for contest giveaways.
If you’re about ready to give up on your writing dreams, don’t! Search your own backyard – and don’t overlook those weeds!
Michele L. Tune is a freelance writer and blogger. Her work has appeared in a variety of print and online publications including Uncle John’s Certified Organic Bathroom Reader, Rural Missouri, Pure Inspiration magazine, Fate magazine, and many others. She’s also a contributing writer for RawPeople.com, and is the owner of https://www.HealingwithJuices.com, a blog that focuses on the healing benefits or raw juices, smoothies, and juice fasting.
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