Categories: france, work, my-beloved
Date: 10 May 2012 11:22:54
I'm thinking of how satisfied and calm and proud I felt the other day, sending in a translation I'd been able to spend my time doing properly, compared to the stressed and frustrated mood I was in (even though elated) when giving in the literature translation test last July. It's lovely having more time to work on fewer words, and it's amazingly interesting taking the time to learn a minimum about all the things mentioned in the source text.
I'm the most nosey person I can think of (right now) and I love putting this curiosity to use in my job.
For someone like me, who has some self-discipline but not as far as time-keeping and prioritising goes, time is therefore gold-dust, essential, and something I really need to use wisely. Being a nosey so-and-so and being easily distracted is something to use with care when time is short. It becomes great fun when I have enough time to freely look around, check, double-check, read-up on, find out about, skip between, follow links on and loop-the-loop from one internet, book or dictionary page to another. Running loose until my curiosity is satisfied and I have such a brilliantly clear picture of what I'm about to translate that I don't have to think any more for the words to materialise. I think it takes an amazingly well written text, written by someone whose work we've often read, on a subject one already knows inside out to do that without any preparation.
Less words and more time are a better combination than the translating equivalent of a 400m sprint or whatever it was. :P
To think I've hankered after this for years. In spite of encouragement by so many people, I've repeatedly nearly but never quite got started on the path of freelance translation. It's taken leaving the UK and some serious work on my lovely man's part to give me the courage to overcome my apprehensions and my propensity to put off until another day anything that looks to me enough like a mountain-range of molehills.
Just when I have tried hard, felt discouraged, tried some more anyway because it just has to be done, been very tired and frustrated with my foibles and got very ratty and annoyed at others when it wasn't to do with them, just then, just now, I've been offered a most advantageous opportunity.
How would you like to help someone by being given the help you need most?
I like it a lot.
Right now, I'm struggling with things like setting day-to-day goals, keeping to the plans I make for my week and taking time to do the things which are essential to this business I'm trying to kick-start. I'm also finding it hard to celebrate my big and small achievements and paying disproportionate attention to all things forgotten or postponed and anything left to amass on the messy pile of life's tedium. My Lovely hasn't got the key, no one around has, only I have. But I need a hand...
I got a call on Friday from a friend of mine who is a coach over here and has recently done some further training abroad. She needs to coach an English speaking "guinea-pig " so her tutor can assess her coaching someone in English. I have accepted to be said guinea-pig. She knows her job. She has tools to steer me along the way. I get free coaching for 3 months, someone to report to, to think things over with, to whom I will be required to boast the most minute of achievements and be honest. I get to be accountable for putting in the necessary effort and time to achieve my goals and reach my targets.
I'm looking forward to it and I am very glad she thought of me because, being me, I'd have put off asking for or not even thought of doing so.
Voilà, a post written in October 2011 and published in May 2012... Pffff! The coaching went well and got me moving on some things, not all. I remain very good at procrastination. Still, the essential gets done so I suppose that's good.