Young Fern

Finally, finally, I can sit here today and pat myself on the back for a job complete.  This was probably the most frustrating assignment, in terms of conflicting personalities and opinions, I've had in quite some time.  And remarkably, it came right after an editing project that saw me fall unwittingly into a pit of confusion (literally, were the pit made of paper) that dug itself from its own conflicting personalities and opinions, and the nonsense that comes out of multiple minds attempting to write together from (mostly) separate locations.  But, rising from that pit allowed me realise how much I respected all the parties involved, for I saw how special the hierarchy we created was outside of my own frustrations.

All our roles were clearly understood, and, while I felt the daily stress of attempting to create coherence out of jumbled ideas, I was able release that stress because I had the freedom to defer to others on technical matters and take control when I felt it was appropriate - which was, of course, when it came to the English form, itself.  In this way, I managed to unleash my fury on my keyboard, instead of my pale, crumpled fists and fragile hairline, which unfortunately occurred frequently during the latter project.

Here, I was a fly firmly embedded in a plain of glue, stuck no matter which direction I faced.  My expertise was accepted as advice and nothing more, and I was forced to tolerate the erroneous, pompous justifications of lesser minds.  (Never mind that they are supposedly leaders in their chosen field.)  Not without protest, though, I will add.

Nevertheless, I will not say that I didn't enjoy this experience, frustrations aside.  These editorial diversions are always interesting, and  I had a lot of fun working with this client (as well as the previous one, for that matter).  Both sides learned plenty of new things.  We finished ahead of schedule, with a product I believe to be more than satisfactory.  And, at the end of the day, I had zero quarrels with the specific person who hired me and is responsible for the fattening of my wallet.  In fact, the relationship was so amicable that I've already been booked to work with them again at some presently-unknown point in the future.

Today, I'm able to laugh at all the times I wanted to throw something at the wall.  Tomorrow, I'll return to dreading having to go through that all over again.  But, for today, just let me have my pat on the back.