Anticipation – Part Two
Most of us go through it, I should guess: periodic cash flow gaps. I venture to say that even well-known, professionally successful writer such as Peter Bowerman, Jennifer Mattern and others who have a fairly consistent, even revenue flow from clients have the occasional situation when the unexpected – such as vehicular issues or a household move that involves unanticipated circumstances – results in a circumstance where it becomes necessary to live rather frugally for an interval.
I actually lived in that circumstance off-and-on for several months in late 2011 and early 2012 when it became necessary to replace a vehicle during a time when I had lost a major client. I may, in fact, be in that circumstance again in the near future because of a combination of needing repairs on the recently purchased vehicle and tax time.
Before anyone gets huffy about needing repairs on a vehicle purchased less then three months ago, I’ve said to acquaintances in-person and will say here that I paid very little for the car, so I really can’t complain. It is an emissions problem, which also means that not only when I bought the car the sellers didn’t know, but a good three weeks later when I had the car inspected the “check engine” light had yet to go on. A rather expensive repair so soon after the car, but under the circumstances just one of those things.
As to taxes: I did well enough with the Federal tax and got a refund. However, I do owe a few hundred on state taxes.
As to anticipation, I am going back to essentially the beginning of March and the last few days of February. I began working on-site at that time, an assignment I have had over the last several years. However, having just gone through all the expenses of purchase, registration, sales tax and inspection of a car, it was a difficult stretch to get through the three full weeks to the first paycheck.
That interval became a time of anticipation for me. A time of anticipating when I could once again have a few dollars to spend as I would like.
The first thing on my list of what to spend things on was books. During the interval between going to work and the first paycheck, I spent a handful of sessions looking over my materials from Crossings book club [for Christian material] and checking out the Recommendations list at Amazon.com.
I put together a Wish List from each, and enjoyed the anticipation of planning to order when that first paycheck arrived.
Indeed, although I normally order my Christian romance fiction through Crossings, I decided to order a couple such books through Amazon.
Why?
Because the Crossings editorial team assesses the Christian fiction they consider adding to their line, and try to select only offer what they classify as “the best” of what’s available.
Yet, as a fiction writing hopeful myself, I feel that we also learn something from fiction at any quality level: from ‘how on Earth did that get published?’ up through ‘top drawer’ material and every quality level in between.
So, ultimately: my sense of anticipation of acquiring some books when cash became available, and then of starting to read those books during the in-transit time, helped smooth over the psychological rough edges of some necessarily quite frugal days towards the end of the winter.
And, I truly think the anticipation helped heighten my enjoyment of the material once I got to read it. [I’ve read one novel a weekend since they began to arrive.]
I still have several left that I have yet to read: most with something specific to anticipate about the book.
So, I’m still enjoying that anticipation of having some pleasant reading time to come.
There’s still more on my Wish List I would like to add to my collection eventually: but for right now, I have enough likely enjoyable fiction reading to provide a delightful sense of anticipation across the next at least three or four weekends.
