Goals & Goats

What I love most about freelance writing is the people I meet. I meet some truly interesting and inspiring people. They make the nerve-wracking work of pitching a story and the dull work of transcribing an interview worthwhile. I really do believe my cells absorb a little bit of each person I speak with, the little bit that resonates with me and that I need to remember and perhaps even possess in order to tap into in the future.
And isn't it interesting how I keep running into goats?
This is Mocha, a wethered Alpine. Isn't he handsome? He's the size of a Great Dane and quite docile, a fact I appreciate when I am standing inside a pen full of goats trying to take photos. I met Mocha, and his pen mates, a pair of Pygmy goats, while interviewing for a current writing assignment. He deserves to grace the pages of a magazine, doesn't he?
He's exactly what I would want in a pet goat, but abstractly, he helps me stay focused on my goals, which aren't to become a more prolific freelance writer but to keep working at the books.
How does a goat motivate me? If I want to fulfill my goal of having goats, I need to fulfill the more essential goal of publishing books in order to build a barn for them. Sometimes a writer needs a little more motivation than simple publication.
So while freelance writing can feel like it's keeping me from working single-mindedly on what matters most to me, it's the people and the goats -- and they stories they have to tell -- who make that work rewarding.