This is me trying to not be all product posts all the time. Ready? Let's go.
Remember back in the day - like two months ago - when I moved up here, and I defiantly stated that I was "on the job hunt" in New York City? Yeah, well. That didn't ever really happen. Because after that, there were eighty-seven blog conferences (okay, there were three, but it felt like a lot more). There was also Fashion Week, event after event, a few new issues of Matchbook, and a lot, a lot, a lot of freelance work.
This is a good thing - nay a great thing. I am not complaining about making a living again and recouping my grad school (financial) losses. This is especially true because I really like working with small, independent companies. They have it going on. These are people who figured out how to make something out of nothing, and I love them for it. I will always want to work with them, and I hope I always will.
I am getting a little bit burned out jumping from ship to ship, from client to client, and project to project. Contract here, invoice there, and in-between fielding 254 emails about random marketing "opportunities" for the blog. I mean, would you guys like to have a dieting contest against each other? Winner gets a bottle of decidedly not FDA-approved pills. Hell no. Sorry I just said hell. Twice. But come on... I do have a killer giveaway set up for next month though. Just so you know.
Anyway, what I'm not loving is getting out of bed in the morning and then proceeding to sit at my desk in that same room... all day. There's no commute here. It's four feet. Unless you count trips to the coffee pot downstairs. My officemate is a black Labrador who enjoys sneezing on me and head-butting my elbows at inopportune moments (poly lasso-ing cutouts in Photoshop, anyone? Oh no, there goes that model's head!) Basically, I can't really take it anymore. (Sorry, Tess.) I guess this is what happens when you have to crash in someone else's house. Did I mention it's nice to be making a living again? Hopefully this will all change soon. Mid-20s crisis, disengage.
So, while the state of things is not permanent and I do fully intend to enter the external job market once things calm down a little bit, for the time being I have to ask: Do any of you work from home? I know you're out there... How do you stay sane and keep your days from becoming a giant blur? Lunchtime walks? Desk chair yoga? Spill. We're all friends here. It's not like we're having a diet competition or anything...
[EDIT] I want everyone to know that A. Your comments are wonderful, and B. If it wasn't abundantly clear by my own fervent and continued support for any number of creative friends and the design community in general - freelance is a wonderful choice and a viable professional option worthy of respect, if you are ready for it. But I am woman enough to know that I am not ready for it - yet. This is the reason I fully intend to return to the workforce - not for some naîve notion that my life will automatically become easier or less monotonous. And likewise, it is worth clarifying that I am not a young twenty-something, I'm an old twenty-something. I have worked a 9-5 job before. And a 5am-3pm/8am-4pm/ 10pm-6am job (hi, retail management). I know how it works. Bottom line, I want to learn more, and while there are many ways to go about gaining more experience (working for yourself being one of them), I am choosing to do so by working with and for other people. So wish me luck. And for all you freelancers and stay-at-home workers, you purveyors of self-starting awesome and endless ambition: You are amazing. I hope I can be just like you one day.
| photo from Lonny |
