Find Your Team

One show we love to watch is Park and Recreation. It details the life of Leslie Knope, Assistant Deputy of the Parks Department in the small, almost terrifying town of Pawnee, Indiana. Leslie aspires to one day be Madame President, hilarious hi-jinks ensue, and at the end of it all, there was one moment that had me crying.

At this point in the show, the last episode, Leslie is giving the commencement speech at Indiana University’s Public Policy graduation. She has been able to do so well in her job because she has an amazing group of friends, her team. They all support each other and are one, big, incredibly dysfunctional family. But they all work together to achieve something greater than themselves: a better place for the citizens of Pawnee.

When I first saw this episode, I had very little direction in my life. I was stuck in a rut of going to work, coming home, having dinner, watch TV or read. I wasn’t actively working on writing. I wasn’t doing anything that really made me happy. For a while, I thought I wanted to try to go to grad school for a master’s in Public Policy, but I’ve since decided that isn’t the right path for me, not yet, at least.

To have a job as a writer, you have to have a good team in place. Without a support system, you could very well end up in a bad place, or you may give up this craft. This is not an easy thing to do–if it were, everyone would be a writer.

I am so lucky to say I’ve found my team. I have my husband, who is tied for my number-one cheerleader with my parents. I have my fellow author friend and high school classmate, Rosario Martinez-Rosales, who constantly pushes me to help me be better in our craft. I have my two best friends from college, Alexa and Sarah, who I know I can always turn to when things are hard and I need someone to vent to and hear that no, I’m not crazy, even if I am being a bit crazy.

Without my team, I would’ve failed in November when it came to writing 50,000 words. I would just sit around watching Netflix or Hulu all the time, never trying to better myself. I would be miserable. I wouldn’t be me.

So figure out what you want to do, and go find your team and get to work.

Who’s on your team? Join my team and challenge me! Comment below or  click Contact Me up at the top and give me some writing challenges!