Dwelling inside the persistent shadow of creativity

I am a writer. 

This is what I do. For a living. Well, not so much lately, but it's the single most salient job I identify with. Back when I was a kid, being introduced to new stuff like Brave New World and Dune and Catcher in the Rye, I fell madly in love with the idea of becoming a writer. 

It didn't take long to discover that it wasn't going to be easy.