Losing My Favorite Job

It’s been a sad week for me. It’s also been a little less busy than usual, and it’s all because I lost my favorite freelance job late last week. For a little over a year, I’d been writing a comedy blog based on a fictional dog character for a nonprofit dog-rescue group. The work was steady and fun, the pay was good, but money’s tight and the group can’t afford me anymore. So now I don’t have to wake up three mornings every week and try to think of something funny to write (not an easy thing to do week after week). That’s the silver lining, I guess. I have time to pursue other opportunities (more silver lining). But now I have to pursue other opportunities—less-fun opportunities—or my bank account will start looking a little anemic within a month or two.

What to do? Well, I’ve been able to put some more effort into my Boghaunter site, for one thing. No one pays me to do that (minor complication), but it’s still a good use of a few hours out of every week. That’s what I tell myself. I think it might even be true. And I’ve got other irons in the fire, other paying gigs. Still, there’s this worried voice in the back of my head that keeps telling me maybe this will be the month the bad economy catches up with me. Maybe this will be the month it all starts to slide downhill. I am confident that I have the resources to get through, but still.…

I have sign above my desk. “Don’t Panic!” it says. Good advice, for freelancers and hitchhikers of all sorts. So I’m not panicking. But I am a little sad.