Out of my comfort zone

One of the things many freelancers – everyone, actually – get hung up on is facing their fears. Moving out of their comfort zone. If you have trouble with rejection, querying can be difficult and cold calling can be down right painful. If your hangup is public speaking, accepting seminar opportunities may give you sleepless nights.

I did something scary today. Something that may ultimately lead to rejection – likely in the form of silence. As some of you may know, my home blog is a staunchly conservative political site. I go on television to opine about the evils of such and such a policy. I am not warm and fuzzy in my views.

Today I applied for a job with a Kennedy. Yes, those Kennedys.

Am I selling out? No. The Kennedy in question isn’t political. He doesn’t show up on the floor of the House to spew policy ideas to the powers that be. He has other projects, and doesn’t resign himself to just being part of the clan. Sure, he’s probably a Democrat, but Democrats are people, too! I likely wouldn’t ever get into a car near a lake with him, for good reason. Then again, he probably wouldn’t be asking me what I think about immigration amnesty, either.

This is a straightforward writing gig, for which I feel I am uniquely qualified. And if the employer were Joe Shmo, I wouldn’t have the slightest hesitation in applying. However, since it’s one of them, I freaked out. I spent hours deliberating over whether or not I should even try. I convinced myself it was a lost cause. Then it took me two hours to write the damn cover email! All because of a stupid surname.

I’ve worked with famous and iconic people before. I regularly get emails or texts from people that many are envious of my knowing. That’s not the part that scared me. I was scared by ideological differences that don’t even have anything to do with the job at hand!

So I sucked it up and hit send. Even if I don’t get the gig, at least I can look at myself in the mirror without shame for being a coward.