argh

[chelidon]

So I no sooner pledge to refrain from taking on any new freelance writing gigs for at least a full month, for the sake of personal sanity and sustainability, then (and I coulda guessed this was coming) an opportunity comes along out of the blue for high-stress, short deadline, short turnaround specialty journalism pieces at $1/word. For those who don't know the biz, $1/word is really good for 1000-2000 word stuff. Back in the day, that was a good point at which to start bargaining upwards, but these days, that's about as good as it gets, and a lot of decent gigs pay half that or even less.

Y'know, the universe is *always* doing that to me. No sooner make a decision, for what seem to be perfectly valid and good reasons, then along comes something incredibly tempting in the opposite direction, which is the universe's way of saying, "you said you wanted it. How *bad* do you want it, huh, huh?" I mean, it's always good to have choices, but. Grrrrrrr. When we'd first committed to move out to the woods, weirdly and out of the blue I started getting these lavish job offers, paying almost obscene amounts of moolah....all of which required high-stress, full-time button-down work living in a big city. How bad do you want it? Uh-huh.

Which is why I try to never, EVER, start a sentence with the words, "I'd never..." or "There's no way I'd ever..." Bad idea. As Eric Sevareid said, "No [person] was ever more than about nine meals away from crime or suicide." The universe will, I repeat, *will* find some way to try to prove you wrong. To engage in a bit of gross anthropomorphization for a minute, it sometimes even seems to take a perverse delight in doing so.

And yes, for those logical smarty-pants out there, I realize the inherent irony of saying "I'd never start a sentence with the words 'I'd never'" ;->

Anyway, I turned down the gig. Maybe it'll still be there in a month or two, maybe not. Will I miss the money? Sure. But I'd miss the time more.

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"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving... and that's your own self."
--Aldous Huxley

Comments

[morrigandaughtr.livejournal.com]

Good for you. I hope your time is nourishing.

[chelidon.livejournal.com]

t'anks! I'm working on being true to my real needs, and walking my talk about sustainability. It's also breaking taboos, to talk openly about money, and to state that I value time more. Time is on my side, but only if I work with it as an ally, and that's what I want to do. Tough to unlearn a lifetime of habit, but it's good work.