It can be difficult to define success for yourself and even harder to visualize what that looks like and how to make that happen.  The old adage of following your heart can be difficult to decipher, but for me, that means looking inside – am I excited every day? Do I feel like I serve my community in some way? Do I feel fulfilled? Do I feel valued?

For me, that meant taking a leap.  A leap off a path, a path that promised security and success, and into the rough where the right answer was no longer so easily identified.  I decided to give working independently a good honest try.  My monthly living costs were super low, I had the support of my spouse, I had an idea of how it all worked, and I had the audacious notion that my skills would be of value.  So I set up an LLC and started doing full time what I’d been doing as a hobby already for many years.  I became a freelancer, focusing on graphic design and illustration.

That was 2008.  Now as 2011 wraps up, it’s clear to see that the audacity of going freelance wasn’t so audacious after all, but the entry into a vast network of creative professionals in all different fields and industries, all working as kind of… specialized artisans.

I wanted to share some of the greatest parts of what life as a freelancer has brought me.

01. Drawing For My Job

I get to sit down with a pencil and paper every day and draw pictures.  I smile when I do because I realize how happy I am to be doing the work that I’m doing.  I get to draw pictures.  AT WORK.  FOR WORK!  Having been in school for not-art, and worked at not-art jobs, realizing fully that my job is drawing pictures makes me giddy.  As I was telling my husband, pencil-and-paper is more natural to me than talking or writing.  It’s a way where my ideas are most clearly and easily expressed.  I wake up every day excited to draw, excited to create and solve design problems.

02. The People

My clients are such a diverse crew: martial arts masters, photographers, web developers, cupcake bakers, urban farming enthusiasts, lindy hoppers, technical gurus, beer brewers, and all kinds of entrepreneurs.  And they come from all over the US and even places abroad. But most of them share a common attribute – they are passionate about what they do.  That is fuel for me! It makes it so much easier and so much successful from my end when my clients have the passion they do, the eagerness and love for their business and a genuine interest in providing wonderful things for their clients and community.  Getting on board always feels like a privilege, like guest-starring on some thrilling new team.  The people I meet are rad folks.  How else would I have met them then through freelancing?

03. Using Your Powers For Good

In so many ways we are always encouraging ourselves and each other to live up to our potential, to cherish the gifts we were given and worked to hone.  To use our powers for good.  Because I work independently I am in the position to choose what clients I work with, and in doing so, I can choose to only work in those industries that reflect my own values.  Not only that, but my design work itself has value, and in working for myself I have the freedom to send it towards the good in the world, to support the good in the world, however small it may seem sometime.

04. My Time

My day starts when I want it to and it ends when I feel finished.  In any job, the balance of work and play is always tricky and that’s no different in freelancing.  But I feel like I have an advantage.  I schedule my own day, so I can more easily work in a trip to the post-office, take the dog for a walk, take a day to see family, or have lunch with my husband.  I can more easily allot time to exercise, or volunteering.  I can more easily pursue my other passions like lindy hop and martial arts.  Having total control over my day makes me a very happy, calm person.  Perhaps that means that I schedule myself into an all-nighter, but it’s an all-nighter I chose to take.

05. Working At Home

I am so much more productive at home, or at least I’m happier here.  I stream NPR, I dress down in sweats and a t-shirt, I can open a window, I can burn incense.  I can have a purring cat in my lap or have a 1-minute dance party to tones of sweet Freddie Mercury.  My commute is a few paces down the hall instead of battling traffic and weather, and I can make myself meals instead of eating out or bagging a lunch.  I’m sure there are some great office cultures out there, but none of them are in my house where I keep all my stuff.

06. Fashion

I am so much better dressed now that I used to be.  It’s an illusion, of course.  I just spend so much of my time in sweats that when I do go out – to meet a client, get some prints made up, eat out, go dancing – I actually WANT to dress up nice.  I’m not burnt out on it having to do it every day.  Stacy and Clinton will never convince me that work pants and heels are just as comfortable than raggedy old scrub pants, though, so when I want to be comfortable at work, I can be.

07. Room for Growth

There’s an excitement about the future with all of this.  I still feel quite young when it comes to doing this right.  I’m proud of my success so far, but as I like to say – art is the easy part.  Managing a business, navigating the industry, managing my time: all of this feels like the real challenge.  Certainly, my work and skills are growing and visibly so.  I’m exploring niches and learning new things, learning as much from my clients as advise them on design matters.  There’s an excitement to that.  I don’t know exactly what my life will look like in 5 years or 10, but I know how I want it to look.  Here’s to 2012!