all-my-worldly-joy | Imogen Denny | undefined
Dear friends,
This is just a quickie to say hello and check in. Things are happening behind the scenes....
All My Worldly Joy continues to make its way towards print. Over the last few months, the manuscript has been reviewed by a copy editor (mostly for grammar, punctuation, and things like that) and by a lawyer who has advised me how not to get sued. I've implemented their suggestions, and now the next stages are typesetting (laying it all out beautifully in a bookish format as opposed to a giant Microsoft Word document) and proofreading.
This is such a funny in-between time, this stretch between writing and publication. It's a time of uncertainty. Who will read the book and what they will make of it, I've no idea. I'm wondering, as well, about my career: if I can continue to make a living with the freelance mental health research and consultancy work that I'm doing, and what might come after. I'm trying to sit with all this uncertainty as an exciting array of near-infinite possibilities, rather than as a near-infinite list of reasons to be anxious. I've been reclusive lately, more so than at any other time in my life. I've lost my appetite for hustle and networking, for being gobby on social media, even for socialising with people I love. I feel a bit guilty about it all - the relationships I've neglected, the opportunities I've missed, the roles I've relinquished... Really, I should be more visible so that I can do a better job of promoting this book when the time comes. I'm trying not to be down on myself about withdrawing, because it feels right in this season of life. I feel more authentically myself than I have since childhood. I know that if I try to force interactions, they'll feel strained and exhausting and, worst of all, fake. So I'm trying to trust that if I'm patient, the pull toward rebuilding will bubble up on its own. The time will come to reconnect and reconstruct. Or it won't, and I'll go and live on a mountain in the wilderness and probably starve.
Either way, I will be in touch with more news when I have it. Thank you for being here, and for bearing with me.
With love,
Laura