Charting my journey – and beyond – from slowly suffocating, office lab rat, to a soul-satisfying career, and freestyle lifestyle, working as Head of Copy at Copywriting Agency: Roll Ink.
As a new week dawns, my period of enlightenment continues and I’m commissioned to work on a whole new range of weird and wonderful copywriting projects, from: editing a film script for a Slovakian production company and producing a range of commentaries for marketing infographics and tutorial videos, all the way through to inspirational articles on the Rocky Bilboa story and legendary African-American actor, director and screenwriter: Tyler Perry.
Every day is an incredible new adventure and the view, well the view from up here, at the ultimate point of flow – is nothing short of spectacular.
“Flow is said to lift experience from the ordinary to the optimal, zen-like state and it’s in those moments we feel truly alive and in tune with what we are doing” Mark de Rond
It has been a while since I posted anything on this blog: two years in fact. There weren’t too many people listening back then and with my continued absence – I suspect it may only be my dear mother who reads this latest post but, conveniently, my objective for writing this blog was never to have scores of readers (although it would be nice) – it was designed to be a tool to help me escape the rat race and create a career of my choosing.
Well, guess what I realised during a truly inspirational week, last week: I did it. I created a career of my choosing, I’m doing it and I’m getting it paid for it. Stick that in your hypothetical pipe and do as you please with it, all those people who doubted the philosophy of Screw Work Let’s Play.
My final epiphany moment and the moment I realised, I was indeed a writer, happened when I became overcome with emotion whilst reading quotes about writing on Pinterest. Oh, there I go again – just writing this sentence, undeniably, resonates with my heart and soul and confirms, without question, my true life calling.
Since making this discovery, I have been in a constant state of unadulterated joy and the more I write, the more my soul connects with the concept of ‘Do what you love and you’ll never work another day in your life’. I’m permanently levitating, above the ground, in that sweet spot they call: Nirvana. Who knew just how satisfying that could be? Nope, not even I when I cautiously, but optimistically, set out to begin this journey of spiritual self-discovery.
Hang on a minute, I didn’t set out to spiritually awaken myself, I set out to exploit the anarchist within and avoid having to take one more step inside a soul-suffocating office or be forced to ignore my natural, circadian rhythm and get up at an ungodly hour but perhaps, most importantly, I chose never to answer to an adult-sized baby in an Armani suit – ever again!
However, it would appear, unequivocally, the two are inter-connected like the jigsaw puzzle of words and conjunctions which continuously dance upon my neurons, joining together to form a picture-perfect, poetic landscape of profoundly satisfying prose.
I won’t ruin the moment by explaining the minutia of how I did it; all I will say, for now, is – I found my bliss!
PS it would appear I knew what I should be doing – 2 years ago!
Well, I am committing myself to 30 days of, basically, playing at something I enjoy doing and I’ve decided that, for me, playing will involve starting a blog/ web site dedicated to good, clean, healthy living: a subject I’m very passionate about.
I’m sharing it here now, in its very early stages, so I can chart my progress over the 30 days.
Throughout the project I will, mostly, be playing around with writing, research and food photography: all activities which I’m drawn to…
I was, going to write a simple post on how I’d finally managed to select a suitable ‘Playbook’ to use for Ignition but, in the words of Carrie Bradshaw, ‘I got to thinking’ …about the symbolism of a blank page when approaching the subject of career change, then this famous quote popped into my head:
I’m very grateful that I possess a deep, eternal optimism which enables me to truly believe and subscribe to the ‘Screw Work Let’s Play’ philosophy. Some may say I have the odds stacked against me:
I don’t have a degree and my highest level of qualification is an HEFC Diploma (3 A Levels).
I’m over 30.
I have a chequered career history with lots of changes in direction, compounded by an 18 month gap whilst undergoing surgery and recovering from an accident.
I can’t sing or dance…
Luckily, I don’t agree and refuse to accept an average work-life or any kind of life for that matter. When I consider my options I still see a blank canvas. My only problem, at this stage, is I can’t quite visualise the finished picture.
That’s where my new Playbook comes in. One of the first steps, John William’s recommends, in Ignition and the original book is to get a Playbook: to record all of your thoughts and ideas as you work through the programme. Intended to bring you closer to doing what you love by capturing everything that pops into your head from notes on things you enjoy doing, right through to that multi-million pound idea which comes to you in the middle of the weekly supermarket shop!
I must admit, I experienced some difficulty in choosing my Playbook as John suggests buying a book you really love and enjoy writing in. I like this book but I don’t love it. However, in the name of progress (I have been searching for a book since I first read Screw Work Let’s Play, over 6 months ago!), I have acknowledged this about myself and put it down to the ‘seeker‘ archetype being dominant in my personality – believing there is always something more or something better out there – and I’ve compromised on a book which I am growing to love 🙂 …and herein starts the next chapter!
I am working on a post on Personality Tests, I promise. I have so much to say on this subject – it’s taking forever!
Meanwhile, I just wanted to take a moment to wish my friend Ricky @ ifjamiecandoit.wordpress.com Good Luck with his new venture!
A couple of weeks ago, I suggested Ricky read Screw Work Let’s Play by John Williams which, in turn, inspired him to start writing his own blog.
Over the past few years, Ricky has lost over 90lbs in weight by following an ancestral health and fitness plan. He plans to share his story and help others ditch some of the junk they consume and ditch some of the ‘junk in the trunk’, in an effort to get the nation feeling fitter and healthier.
He is an excerpt from Ricky’s ‘Manifesto’:
“This is my space to explore a little more into what I’m going to refer to as ancestral health and fitness. I’m describing it as ancestral as it is the ‘Paleo diet” that brought me here. I like Paleo. It’s a quick and easy way to reference my standpoint although it has become almost a buzzword. We aren’t cavemen or hunter gatherers by any stretch of the imagination anymore. I, for instance spend my day surrounded by flashing computers and shiny metal walls (although I do hear the occasional Ugh vocalised) and what daylight I do see is through expensive, well designed glass. That’s not to say that it isn’t relevant. I just don’t want this space to be based around one movement or one lifestyle. We have moved on, we have utilised the 80/20 rule (see Mark Sisson’s awesome site to delve into this), it isn’t a perfect world but by looking back at our ancestral roots I really do believe that we can improve our health, our fitness and our relationship with our environment.”
In an alphabetti spaghetti salute to ‘Play Wednesday’ – making play part of every week – from the book Screw Work Let’s Play, I thought I would share this little creation…
Who would of thought tinned spaghetti could be so much fun?
It’s also been a good opportunity for me to test embedding Instagram images into my blog – it’s the future!
Completely coincidentally, my previous two posts on how I would spend my year of freedom combined to create a list of 12 items. You may think I did this intentionally to give me one item per month. I didn’t. It was purely coincidence but, as I do like to mix things up a bit, I’m going to add one more thing to the list for good measure. Well actually, this one is lots of things all rolled into one. In simple terms I’m going to teach myself how to do the yoga move pictured above, often referred to as ‘camel pose’. Purely based on my currently level of flexibility, this item may be the hardest of all to achieve.
In more complicated terms, this move signifies complete openness in mind and body and is a principle I plan to apply to all aspects of my life.
I will be more open with myself and others about what I want and what I don’t want and, in doing so, I will have to make some hard decisions but, ultimately I will remain true to what I set out to achieve.
Being open in all areas of your life takes courage…
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage” Anais Nin
In a follow-up to Part 1 (genius), here is the continuation of how I would spend my year of total freedom:
7. Clinch a deal in NYC
I’m not entirely sure why this one is on my list but, I promised the unedited version of exactly what came into my head, so, I would ‘clinch a deal’ in New York City. Not any old deal, a big deal, one that would pay handsomely and one which I am hugely passionate about. Of course, I’d pull the whole thing off in a sharp designer suit and patent black Christian Louboutin’s : it goes with the territory!
8. Share my Knowledge I would share my experience of good clean living and pass on my humble knowledge of nutrition. I would share this knowledge with those it would make a real difference to; everyday people not aware of the profound effect basic changes to diet and lifestyle could have on their health and well-being. I would offer an alternative perspective as my ideas are a little left field, taking inspiration from the paleolithic lifestyle but, more importantly, based on what works for the individual.
9. Creating a Career I would carry on writing Creating a Career: telling my story to see where it takes me, then maybe go on to develop it as a source of information for people embarking on a similar path – what I don’t know about job interviews isn’t worth knowing! I could share my tips about CV writing and how to creatively craft one to disguise poor educational achievements or a ‘varied’ career history.
Or, I could go right ahead and turn it in to ‘The Church of Screw Work Let’s Play’.
Suggestions on a postcard, if you will, to my New York address.
10. Volunteer I would devote some time to volunteering, for a cause that enables me to make a difference.
11. Organic Food I would get involved with local, organic food. I’m not sure whether that would be growing it, producing it, cooking with it, promoting it, writing about it or campaigning for wider availability and better prices. Who knows, as with most things on my list, it requires more investigation.
Greenbrae’s Rare Breed Pigs
12. Brand Me I would create ‘Brand Me’, using my newly purchased domain http://www.francescaroll.co.uk, to communicate my unique talents, values and passions to companies and individuals I may wish to work with in the future.
I expect the content to come together naturally as I work through this process. However, I have considered recreating this flyer, ingeniously created by my Dad in the 1980’s, for the digital generation? Especially relevant considering it’s mostly sandwich recipes that come up if you Google ‘Francesca Roll’.
As a final note, I could go on forever writing this list but, I think that lot should keep me busy for the next 12 months in addition to, generally doing more of what I’m good at, doing what I love and loving what I do. For me, that means: multiple projects, dealing in ideas, creative writing & copywriting, working with other creative people, creating brands, problem solving, flipping everything on its head, supporting others to realise their ideas and dreams and, last but not least, not letting the grass grow under my feet.
I was talking to a friend who is now reading Screw Work Let’s Play this morning. I asked him if, like me, he was disguising the cover of the book whilst reading in public. All credit to him, he said no but, it got me thinking. Why did I feel the need to do this?
I know why. I knew people would think I was crazy and be thinking “yeah right, you crazy fool!”. For most people, the getting up and dragging themselves to work, politely suffocating in a job they hate and going home miserable and exhausted, ready to get up and do it all again tomorrow is ‘normal’. Thankfully, I’ve always been a little crazy. I’ve always believed I don’t have to do what everyone else is doing. Being a little crazy makes me creative and interesting. I can think outside the constraints of the box that ‘normal’ people are locked inside; which brings us back to unique talents. I wonder how ‘a little bit crazy’ would go down on the average CV?
To break free from the chains of a miserable work-life and become a successful scanner you need to be a little bit crazy. You need to embrace risk as part of the process and not be dis-heartened by the non-believers who brand you crazy. You might fail but, you will never know until you try and the conformists will always be left wondering, what if…
Charlie Sheen is considered the epitome of crazy. So, with this in mind, I’ve re-worked the words of his famous rant to create a motivational rap for myself and my fellow scanners.
For the non-scanners among you, specifically my good friend Victoria who really doesn’t understand why I’m writing this blog, a scanner is a creative person with multiple interests and lots of ideas.
Scanning Lyrics
By Francesca Roll
I have one gear: GO – epic scanning
Are you bipolar?
I’m bi-scanning
Scan here, scan there, scan scan everywhere
Absolute victory
(Everywhere, where)
I’m on a quest
(We’re gonna scan everywhere)
Right every single wrong
(Right every wrong)
I’m a total frickin’ rock star from Mars – scanning
C’mon bro, I got tiger blood – scanning
You borrow my brain and you’re like DUDE, can’t handle it
Scan here, scan there, scan scan everywhere
I’ve got a list — help me sort this
From the epic scan to the desperately scanless
Aim for the stars – SCANNING
Chasing your dreams – SCANNING
Do something different every day – EPIC SCANNING
Joyfully jobless – SCANNING
Do what you love and love what you do – SCANNING
Following a career plan because ‘that’s what you do’ – WEAK
Changing your mind – SCANNING
Go with the flow – SCANNING
Get paid for playing – EPIC SCANNING
Creative ideas – SCANNING
Multiple interests – SCANNING
Living the dream………
duh, SCANNING, SCANNING
7 figure income, that’s how I roll – scanning
I have one gear: GO – epic scanning
Are you bipolar?
I’m bi-scanning
Scan here, scan there, scan everywhere
I’m a total frickin’ rock star from Mars – scanning
C’mon bro, I got tiger blood – scanning
You borrow my brain and you’re like DUDE, can’t handle it
Scan here, scan there, scan scan everywhere, everywhere
The first stage of getting paid for doing what you love is, of course, working out what you love…
One of the first exercises, in the Screw Work Let’s Play book, suggests imagining you’ve been given 12 months off work, with all the money you need, to do exactly as you wish. How would you spend a year of total freedom?
I think the key to this task is not to think too much about jobs and careers. Just try to catch exactly what your heart desires before your inner-voice steps in and starts shouting things like “that’s ridiculous” or “how is doing that ever going to translate into actually paying the mortgage?!”.
Scribble your little heart out… Notice how you feel. Do any of your ideas scare you?
Anyway, back to me. I have to admit that the perfectionist in me feels compelled to produce a finely executed list of everything I want and everything I love doing but, Rome wasn’t built in a day. So, I’m going to break from the old routine and in an out of character experiment chuck everything out there and refine later.
Here is the raw, unedited version of how I would spend my hypothetical year off (Part 1):
1. Italy I would travel to Italy; take cookery classes in Sicily, sample the finest organic olive oil – maybe even try my hand at making it or stomping grapes to create an award winning red wine.
I would drink good coffee and visit local food markets & delicatessens whilst taking in some of the grand architecture and historic monuments.
2. China I would visit China and spend some quiet, reflective time up in the misty Huangshan Mountains amongst the pine trees.
3. India
I would experience the colour and vibrancy of India, embracing my spiritual side and learning how to practice Yoga.
I would take photographs, write about my experiences and sample freshly grown Coriander before it even gets within sniffing distance of a supermarket packet.
4. Whale Watching I would go whale watching. Seeing these animals in the wild, in their natural habitat, must be a life affirming experience! It’s a wonderful world…
5. Chase the Aurora Borealis
I would chase the Northern Lights in Iceland. This one needs little explanation but I’d experience everything Iceland has to offer while I’m there too…
6. Glamping
I would go Glamping and have some good old fashioned fun with my nieces and nephews, exploring the countryside and cooking on an open fire…
Creating a Career 