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BlogWalk 11: Freedom??
Freedom was for me one of the key terms coined during the session. Freedom to follow your passion. During the day the idea of being a freelancer was a bit romanticized. I feel the need to de-romanticize being freelancer a bit.
At one point in time I decided not to work for an employer, because I could feel nothing but negative energy reading job descriptions in my field of expertise. Becoming independent created a lot of intellectual freedom, but it limits the freedom in other areas, travel for instance. Being in the starting phase of my own company, I don't have money to spend on trips for fun. Even with the steady income of my husband, we have to restrict the money we can spend on ourselves. Freedom has a price attached to it. I can only afford not to be paid through pay checks because my husband earns enough to provide the two of us with food and shelter (ok, and a little bit more than that, I mustn't complain ;-) ).
I do believe some people who freelance are being exploited. Seeing some of the tariffs some freelance journalists receive for their work, makes me wonder how they can afford to make a living. It might have something to do with abundance of journalists in The Netherlands, but I think that there is also a group that is not really aware of their own value and not good at negotiating with clients.
You can also ask the question whether all freelancers are consciously independent? For some it might be they're forced to take freelance contracts, because nobody wants to hire them otherwise, or because they're fired and passed a certain age. Are those people free? I guess some of them can make something good happen from a negative experience, and some of them have to work for any money people are willing to pay for their services.
Like everything else in life, the choices you make have consequences. All humans compromise at points and choose the options that they feel most comfortable with in pursuit of happiness. I chose my path, which at times drives me nuts just the way a 'normal' job would drive me crazy. I made a choice within practical limits. As soon as this path doesn't make sense anymore (hey, life is full of uncertainties) I will choose another one. That's why I made the remark in the afternoon that if I were given a million Euros tomorrow, I quit what I'm doing. Right now I'm figuring out a way to market myself/make money by fitting my knowledge and experience into a mold that others can understand and are willing to pay for. Having a million would make the path of figuring out how to earn my own living superfluous. At the same time a certain amount of money creates space for more (intellectual) freedom which will spark new ideas and create new paths into the future.
tags: blogwalkeleven, blogwalkamsterdam, blogwalk.
