Guess who's suddenly unemployed and oddly optimistic?!

Did I know that this job was never going to be a permanent arrangement? Absolutely. Have I saved enough money to not have to worry about paying my bills for a very long time? You bet! Does it still piss me off that I got fired out of the blue a few days before Christmas. Without a doubt.

While I want to go full blown Petty Labelle, I recognize that I should never actively burn a bridge in the writing world so I’ll be talking about the details in less detail. Basically what happened is that I was working a long term freelancing job for a startup since April. I knew it was a freelancing gig but oh man did I make good money. Unfortunately, with that comes the issue of contracted work. I’ve been talking to my supervisors for months, asking when they think my contract will “run out” because they’ve been extending my contract for months. I wasn’t mad at that! Money is what money do, but alas. That did put me in a position of never knowing when I needed to look for a new gig so I asked that they give me a 2 week heads up so I could get my affairs in order. The constant answer I was given was “We’ll give you a heads up so you can prepare yourself.” Turns out that was a lie. 

Last Friday, I got an email at around 7PM saying that my contract was done on that day and they weren’t extending it again. Now I’m back in the job market without warning and being fueled by the soft-pastel, Madagascar vanilla scented candle known as betrayal. But I had to remember:

Companies have no loyalty because capitalism is a demon.

While this is true for everyone with a job, especially if you live in the United States; it’s doubly true if you’re a freelancer. A lot of people have been asking me (in my day-to-day life) what being a freelancer is like so here’s my pros and cons list for anyone considering if they should leave their 9-5 and start freelancing, specifically as a freelance writer but these qualities can be universal to all freelancing:

Le PROS

-You make your own schedule

-You work with who you want to work with

-You only work on projects that genuinely interest you

-You make your own rates

-Depending on what you’re freelancing in, you can do it from anywhere in the world

-Depending on what you need for your business, you might be able to get a LOT of tax deductions

Le CONS

-You need to know your worth and be uncompromising on it (it’s a lot harder than you think)

- You need to know how to save, just in case work runs low

-Not the most consistent kind of income (exhibit A: me)

-Organizing your taxes can look like that meme of the guy from Always Sunny

this guy right here

-Your investments, retirement, etc. are 100% your responsibility

-It can be really hard to create a work-life balance (knowing how to make boundaries is SUPER important)

Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, let’s talk very briefly about the whole “companies are not your friends” thing. One of my favorite podcasts called Binchtopia had a phenomenal episode about this and how dangerous that mentality is called “Corporations are People, Too!” I strongly recommend listening to it (the episode is about 1 hour and 12 minutes long). But as the holiday season rolls around and the capitalist compulsion to BUYBUYBUY hits all of us like sack of unboiled potatoes, remember that working yourself to death does not serve you.

If you put in the extra hours for your job thinking that you’ll get noticed and rewarded, know that that probably isn’t the case. I’m saying this from experience. I put it no more work than was required of me for my last job while some of my coworkers put in extra hours and canceled plans to take up some of the work that other writers couldn’t finish. And guess what? They got the same “You’re fired” email I got this past Friday.

You know who actually deserves your time and energy? Not your job. Your chosen family. And that’s not necessarily your blood family. If you have a great relationship with your family then that’s amazing and i hope you nurture those relationships, but chosen family is just as important (if not more important). Those are the people that you’ve chosen to give your heart. 

If money is a little tight this year, know that the most valuable thing you can give to the people you love is your time and attention. The people who love you would much rather have you, happy and present, than a material gift at the cost of your peace.

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With that in mind, I hope you all have a very happy holiday season AND, because it’s the holiday season, I have a special wine related gift for all of my readers! This is kind of content (and more) is usually for the paid subscribers but

1. Because it’s the holidays and

2. I know I’ve been pretty inconsistent recently with my blog

I’ve decided to be a good lil elf and share my happiness with everyone!

Charlie, one of my best friends who lives in Germany, came to visit me and we shared a ver special bottle of wine together that is available in the states (if you know where to look)! We drank, we talked about German wine culture, we ranted about nonsense, and that was my own Christmas gift (and I hope you enjoy us as much as I do!)

That being said, I’d still really appreciate you all getting a $5 per month paid subscription to the newsletter, especially as I’m looking for new employment PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!