i am a freelance graphic designer and an artist. But wait, not in that order. What came first was the artist part, then the part that would allow an artist like me to earn a living. Starting over, I am an artist and I’ve made a career of being a graphic designer. The freelancer part is a deliberate way of shaping my own destiny as a creative and i have never regretted it, even when asked multiple times by a grandmother, “when are you going to get a real job?”
I assure you, there is nothing more REAL than being a freelancer. The FREE part, as in a freedom to choose, is definitely a rewarding part and cannot be understated. It is what allows me to go for a walk on a beautiful day at 2pm on a weekday and to also choose to work on a rainy Saturday to get a jump on a deadline. Sometimes my “weekend” is the week and my “work week” is the weekend, make sense? I have come to love that flexibility in my schedule and it would take a pretty unique full-time opportunity to have me give that up.
Now, let’s consider the LANCE part of freelancer. When i think of that word, i only think of one thing, to “lance a boil”….how gross is that? But yes, freelancing can get quite uncomfortable too. There are times of prosperity and times of well, not-so-much. I’ve gotten very good at “storing nuts for the winter” and with only 2 dimes to rub together, i still manage to save 10 cents for the unrelenting taxes. No one is paying me to get up every morning and sometimes no one is even expecting me to get up and sometimes no one even remembers me. This is not a “poor me” story, it is just accurate to say that one has to be a self-motivator to make a go of this. I have succeeded at this and i have failed at this, but as the BeeGee’s would say, we’re “staying’ alive”……and i wouldn’t have it any other way….
Most artists will “Moonlight by Day”…(how’s that for an oxymoron) as something else, but their heart is in the art.
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