You see, I kind of exhausted the topic on which I originally based this blog (transitioning out of the practice of medicine), and for a while, I was a bit stuck on where to go. That, plus I had a commitment to a contract project that took up most of my working hours (one has a mortgage to pay, after all, not to mention med school loans!).
That contract project ended today, on about 2 hours' notice. Five of us freelancers were let go... My contract said they had to give me 10 days' notice, but whatever.... So I find myself a bit at loose ends. Why not write something? Should I write about being treated poorly after 3 years of dedicated service? Nah, why encourage any negative karma...
Instead, I will write about freedom. Freedom is not always all it's cracked up to be (see above re: financial obligations), but a little break from the daily grind here and there can be incredibly beneficial and refreshing. Planned, scheduled vacations are certainly a less stressful form of freedom, although doesn't it always seem that you have to do so much work to get ready for vacation, and then so much work to catch up from vacation??? The freedom I am experiencing, beginning today, is naturally a bit more disconcerting, but at least I didn't have to stress about preparing for it!
Now I have a (little bit) of leeway to explore my next steps, and perhaps shift directions a bit. I have the freedom to re-establish some priorities, like finding time to write. I have the freedom to see a mid-day movie! Except I might not enjoy that movie as I will be fretting that I should be exploring employment opportunities. I have the freedom to finally finish putting my (planned) vacation photos in an album! Now, I am not completely unemployed - I do have a couple editing gigs on the side - but I am most certainly UNDERemployed at the moment. I will use this time to seek out another long-term project, and maybe I will even find a way to enjoy the (hopefully short-lived) freedom.
Yes, the downside of life as a FREElancer is the occasional unplanned FREEdom from employment and from a reliable income source. But I am confident something good is out there. Time to start working the network!
As George Michael said, in Freedom '90, "Think I'm gonna get me some happy." Wish me luck!
image: songfacts.com
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