Back to my roots

They say that when you get stuck in a dead-end street or lose direction, you should go back to square one and start over again. This applies to navigating actual roads but also to life in general, and I have always thought this a very sound advice.

Going abroad, I managed to continue working remotely in my old job. While everyone in my team is very supportive and the arrangement is pretty great, the remote circumstances sometimes put a damper on my work satisfaction. Lately, I have been thinking hard about my future professional life. And here the mentioned advice came into the picture. Having my professional roots in translation and sometimes missing this work during the years in the corporate world I threw out the net for available options.

Lucky bastard that I sometimes am, a chance opened up and I managed to land a translation contract with a publishing house that plans its programme way ahead and can therefore give its translators generous deadlines. On top of that, the books are on the slim side and manageable even with a daily office job.

After doing a sample translation to prove that I still have what it takes – I hadn’t worked as a translator for almost ten years – the editor seemed happy to have me on board and I started working on my book in July.

Boy, does it feel good to be back! After a slightly rusty start I am now enjoying transferring the emotional adventures of my romantic novel’s heroine into German. It is a wonderful addition to my slightly prosaic day job that - thanks to my moonlighting after-office hours – does not appear so prosaic anymore.

I didn’t really go back to square one and start over from scratch, but returned to my roots and managed to bring back the best part into the present. Sometimes, the secret is in the right mix. At least try it if you are stuck in a rut. Who says you should never look back? It worked out very well for me.

I'll keep you posted.