career choices, discomfort, and the way sundays make me use so many capitals

So, it's four o'clock in the morning and I'm awake and chipper like a very awake and chipper thing for the first time in like. Months. MONTHS, YOU GUYS.

Don't get me wrong; I wake up at 5 every morning, Monday through Friday, and curl my hair. I do that thing with my eye makeup that makes me look both alert and alluring, (or at least according to the Youtube instructional videos I've watched. Shut up.) And 9 days out of ten, I do so generally content and ready for the day, albeit a little groggy.

But today. TODAY. I couldn't sleep anymore because I was so excited to have this Sunday happen. Nothing particularly wonderful is going to occur. I'm going to add to a multi-media piece that's been in the works for awhile. I might watch a little Doctor Who, probably cycle for awhile. And the real kicker is that I probably could not be more thrilled about it, (unless there was the addition of really adorable sloths or something).

ANYways. If the last few weeks have shown me anything, it's how contagious people can be. I know that contagious usually connotes something negatively catching, like a cold, but I mean it in the very best way possible.

Last Wednesday, I did go to that networking event for creatives. It's also worth noting that it's stupidly hard to say things like "networking events" without feeling like a total skeeze.

There was free pizza, gin and tonics, and raffles for cool prizes from small local businesses. But most importantly, there was so much passion in that room. Each and every person was there because they wanted to be. A hundred men and women gathered on a three-degree January night because they are so completely charged about what they do that sharing it with others is the only viable option.

There was this compelling drive that hung over the room, and something just simply clicked in me. I realized it's okay to say things like, "I work in recruiting, but I'm also a film maker," because so many others were saying them, too. While there was definitely a core group of people who have crafted their careers around matchmaking, or online game design, or macro flower photography, I now know people who are marketing consultants and central players in non-profits for entrepreneurs, or women who work in leasing and are talented painters.

Before, it never felt right to talk about my day job and then tack something else on the side. But, as many of you may know, the last year has clearly demonstrated that "day jobs" do not define me; who I am defines me. Loving something outside of work isn't terrible, and doesn't indicate that I'm unsatisfied with my current career choice or incapable of corporate success. It just means that I can be something slightly different by day than I am at night. Like a super hero, except I can't do that jump-and-sail-glamorously-to-the-side thing that comic book women seem so into.

This small and important alteration in my thinking prompted me to finally, FINALLY, finish my vanity site. It's basically a central hub for everything I love doing. This is my second attempt in the last year because the first go-around left me feeling too embarrassed about shamelessly showcasing myself. But if it makes me uncomfortable and doesn't involves high explosives or poison, I'm willing to bet I need to do it.

And with that. Behold. www.jamanuszak.com. If you get a chance, take a gander. Because, oh, hi. I'm Jessica. I'm a creative. I work in finance, but I'm also a novelist, a web designer, and an ebook consultant. And I'm so very excited to tell you all about it.