Freelancing to Freedom

One morning when I was young, before I had even started school, I bounded out of bed, ran to the kitchen and declared, “Mom, I want to be a freelance editor when I grow up.”

Yeah right. If only it had been that easy.

When people asked me that typical, tiring question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” my answers ranged from ballerina to teacher to astronaut (you wouldn’t get me in a shuttle now for a million dollars!). When I was a little older, it was even my dream to be a VJ on MuchMusic. As I approached graduation, I knew that my career would probably involve using words in some way, but it still took me an entire English degree, a year of studying publishing, and a couple of in-house jobs in the publishing industry to decide that freelancing was the right decision for me.

I used to envy those kids who knew from day 1 what they wanted to do with their lives and who followed through with it.  Now, as I write this blog in the house I grew up in, where I explored so many dreams, I’m grateful for the path that led me to where I am now. I needed to know what I didn’t want to do before I could appreciate the career I have now.

It is truly an amazing thing to wake up in the morning and not dread going to work. I’m actually looking forward to returning to work after my Christmas break. I didn’t rush my decision to become a freelance editor and I don’t feel stuck with it either. There are so many opportunities to grow and change as a freelancer – no work day ever has to be the same.

I chatted with my mom the other day just before Christmas dinner about how much has changed since I was young. My sister and I would sit under the tree for hours and obsess about our presents. For us, even though family was important, Christmas revolved around those gifts. Now, the best gift at Christmas is time with family and friends (a little cheese for you there!) Quality time with family and friends is the most important thing in the world to me, and I’m ecstatic that I have found a job that allows me the freedom to carve out this time on a regular basis.

Freelancing to freedom baby. Thank you so much for reading my blog this year. I’m excited for another year of editing and connecting with the writing community in 2011.