The beautiful thing about trying something new is opening myself up to new experiences. As a highly analytical person, I strategize to maneuver through life as best I can. So, just before resigning from teaching science at a public school, I’d paid off all debt, made a budget and tested the freelance waters.
I found a couple of decent-paying jobs, which led me to believe I could maintain the same lifestyle while working from home. I actually thought I’d “figured out” how to transition from employee to freelancer–all in a couple of months.
Of course, reality isn’t as tidy as dreaming. Very little of the contract work I received overlapped. I always had some money coming in, but hardly ever enough to meet the budget I’d planned. One of the agonizing things was the delay in payment after I’d completed the work, invoiced the client in a timely fashion and had to wait to be paid long after the payment was due.
I reset my budgetary priorities. Much later than I should have, I started clipping coupons and paying attention to the weekly specials at the grocery store. All of my social interactions had to be justified by networking/recruiting opportunities. No more pure fun, hanging out unless it cost less than ten dollars.
About a month before my most lucrative writing job ended, I included alternative teaching positions in my daily job search. When 2015 arrived, I had three job interviews lined up for part-time teaching/tutoring jobs. The end result: I landed the best job out of the three.
In the meantime, no telecommuting educational writing/editing jobs have graced craigslist. Since I’m teaching Adult Basic Education and GED classes part-time, I don’t want a second job I have to drive to; so I know that I’m limiting my options.
At the same time, I’m still loving the fact that my schedule allows me to do yoga, write, read, cook, exercise and run errands in the morning and early afternoon. Once I arrive at work, things are relaxing and I enjoy my job, which seems very receptive to embracing the artist in me.
So far, I’ve motivated some coworkers and a student to participate in painting a canvas for charity and secured scholarships for two students to participate in an international poetry festival. As a matter of fact, when I dropped by registration to pick up my packet, the chairperson gifted me 40 tickets for the headlining poet, Nikki Giovanni! Such a tremendous score since this was on the same day we had our big company meeting and a few intense comments had been made during the reporting of the “highlights.” I was so happy to sweeten the mood a little by giving out the free tickets to everyone who could make it. Considering over half of my coworkers are volunteers, who have next to no disposable income, I’m glad I could include them in this cultural event.
I also had many free passes left over for the evening students who were interested in attending. None of my students had never been to the Austin Convention Center, where the show will take place. I even assisted one student with her online search of which bus to take to get there. She was so surprised at how close she lived to the venue. I hope most, if not all, of my students attend. This will be such an eye-opening experience, even if some won’t know what to make of it.
Nonetheless, I don’t feel that I’m making significant progress on finishing my second novel. There’s a part of me that is disheartened by the fact that I don’t have the money to self-publish it. Although that should not be a stopper, my sense of urgency isn’t where it should be with this story.
In the meantime, organizing the Austin Writers Roulette has continued to open doors for me. As good fortune would have it, the roulette falls on the same weekend as the poetry festival. As a matter of fact, it is the culminating event. I’m excited about having fellow poets, my two poet students and some of my coworkers all present during this time.
This freelancing business has landed me in an unexpected place. I’m fortunate to have the flexibility to embrace the adventure.
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