While I don't do new year resolutions or get jazzed about celebrating what is an arbitrary "time change" event, I do recognize that within our human-imposed calendar we have milestone events that we recognize.
Birthdays, for example.
I do celebrate birthdays (mostly other people's birthdays), and I give a passing nod to anniversaries, too.
This year, 2020, marks a decade of freelancing for me.
I didn't ever intend to be a freelancer.
I didn't go "looking for it."
It was pure accident.
I saw an opportunity and thought, "What have I got to lose?"
In my first year of freelancing, I wrote three articles, and only one was paid.
I made $50 for it, which was fine because I was just so excited to have my name in print.
At the time, I was knee-deep in baby- and toddler-care, so to use my brain in a way that allowed me some quiet alone time and made me feel intellectual was huge.
Now, since the freelancing is still part-time, I write around 70 articles a year.
I've branched into more advertising-type work.
My pay has increased, too.
Opportunities have presented themselves in which I edit others' work.
Opportunities have presented themselves in which I train other writers.
Freelancing has made me a better English teacher.
Not every English teacher gets paid for their writing, and I'd venture to say most don't.
When I think about going back to teaching full-time, I know I'd have to give up my freelancing, and I really don't like that idea.
My freelancing feeds my teaching and vice versa.
One of my favorite things about freelancing is the serendipitous way in which it happened and how that one thing created a cascade of openness to other serendipitous opportunities that have brought me a tremendous amount of pleasure and growth.
Birthdays, for example.
I do celebrate birthdays (mostly other people's birthdays), and I give a passing nod to anniversaries, too.
This year, 2020, marks a decade of freelancing for me.
I didn't ever intend to be a freelancer.
I didn't go "looking for it."
It was pure accident.
I saw an opportunity and thought, "What have I got to lose?"
In my first year of freelancing, I wrote three articles, and only one was paid.
I made $50 for it, which was fine because I was just so excited to have my name in print.
At the time, I was knee-deep in baby- and toddler-care, so to use my brain in a way that allowed me some quiet alone time and made me feel intellectual was huge.
Now, since the freelancing is still part-time, I write around 70 articles a year.
I've branched into more advertising-type work.
My pay has increased, too.
Opportunities have presented themselves in which I edit others' work.
Opportunities have presented themselves in which I train other writers.
Freelancing has made me a better English teacher.
Not every English teacher gets paid for their writing, and I'd venture to say most don't.
When I think about going back to teaching full-time, I know I'd have to give up my freelancing, and I really don't like that idea.
My freelancing feeds my teaching and vice versa.
One of my favorite things about freelancing is the serendipitous way in which it happened and how that one thing created a cascade of openness to other serendipitous opportunities that have brought me a tremendous amount of pleasure and growth.
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