Another night down, another night closer to paying for our new car, and another night of churning out illustrations that will eventually grace a corporate website.
For the first time since I have been freelancing, I was approached today by a possible client on the strength of my portfolio. To say I am pleased is an understatement - especially as the work I am able to display online is only a small fraction of the work I actually do. So far I have not actively scouted for any of the work I am doing. Of course, as I complete more freelance work, I will have more to show - a bigger “shop window”.
Week days are spent mired in the world of Microsoft, C#, web services, workflow, and all manner of other stuff that 99% of people have never heard of. Weekends are spent running round like an idiot fulfilling social obligations, and ferrying the children on their never ending itinerary, which leaves evenings and late nights to help freelance clients realise their ambitions on the web.
We decided several months ago that I should give it at least six months to a year - doing the web work on the side - before making any kind of long term decision about my future. It will be a difficult call to make when the time comes (if it ever does) - deciding between a career as a professional software developer, or a freelance web designer and developer.
My continuing inspiration is a friend in the US who followed the opposite path - leaving a world of web development behind to chase her dream of making wonderful things from glass and silver. She had the courage to make the leap, but then she also has another half earning money. Our situation is different - I am now the sole supporter of our family of five, and it concentrates the mind wonderfully.
Over the past several evenings while working early into the morning on occasion, I have wondered about the pursuit of money - or rather, my own pursuit of it recently. At what point do I slow down - how much free time should you make for yourself - and your family ? I’m not so sure there is a right or wrong answer, so long as you find some time… this evening I ate dinner with everybody, talked through the children’s day, and helped the eldest with her homework before returning to the study to knuckle down.
Right now I am writing these words in a period of reflection at the end of a long day, and continuing the tradition of being a “personal blogger” - the very same class of contributor to the web that the intelligencia will tell you is becoming extinct.
When I grow weary, I am reminded of the Dylan Thomas poem - do not go gentle into that good night…