The Joy of Unemployment

Exactly one month ago, I walked into my office and was greeting with the piece of news that nobody likes to hear:

We’re sorry, we like your work, but we can’t keep you.

That’s essentially how I was laid off from my last job. And then came the expected mild panic: How will I pay the bills? How about insurance? What do I do now?

For me, the bout of panic lasted maybe an hour. I’ve always been one of those people who has Plans A, B, C, D, E and F at the ready. I’d been working as a freelance designer the past five years on the side. Losing my job only meant that I had to move into freelance. Full-time.

After a month, I can honestly say that becoming unemployed may have been the best thing to happen to me this year.

My ultimate goal in life was to go solo. This happening to me gave me the kick in the pants I needed and forced me to take the plunge. It’s been a growing experience.

Taking the plunge as a freelancer is scary. You’ve got to hustle. You’ve got to get yourself out there. You’ve got to balance the books. You have to kick ass. And have I mentioned that you have to design too?

Part of me was a little scared that I didn’t have the connections or the contacts or the client base to really make a go of this. But I think I underestimated myself. I also think I’ve been busier now than I ever was when I had a full-time job.

I’ve had the luxury of time. Time to work on personal projects and nurture my creativity as a designer. I might even get to working on some art projects to keep feeding the inspiration bug.

Of course the luxury of time is sometimes a curse. It’s no secret that time management is probably the hardest part of working on your own schedule. Finding time to finish projects, pursue new projects, meet with people and keep the house from falling apart is the daily challenge. But it gets better as you go on.

I think I’m going to enjoy this journey. And I hope bigger things are in store.

I leave with a picture a friend of mine sent me yesterday. Very apropos. (Shame I don’t know who to attribute it to because it’s lovely.)