A month ago, I began living a life of my own design. I bid a fond farewell to my corporate job in favor of working for myself. I had planned the leap for over a year and once the final puzzle piece fell into place, I fell in line right along with it.
On the first day of my freelance life, I launched my new creative consulting firm, Chasing Down the Muse, which allows me to focus my energy on the three pieces of my career that I love most – product development, freelance writing, and teaching yoga and meditation to creative professionals.
It’s been an incredible gift to wake up every morning to do work that I love. Everywhere I go, I go with my whole heart. I work many more hours now than I did when I worked for someone else. The income is not as stable (yet) and there have been moments of great elation and some moments of disappointment. And still the feeling I get from calling my own shots and relying on my own sense of judgement to move forward on different leads and opportunities is well worth all of the challenges.
I’ve had a few twinges of “Oh God, can I really do this?” but they pass in a few breaths, which is as big a surprise to me as it is to anyone else. There used to be a small voice inside of me that can only be described as the biggest worrier on Earth. That valid voice has been soothed and replaced with a quiet strength, a calm and resonant voice that now says, “Keep going. Don’t worry. Everything will be amazing.” I like this new voice much better.
Christa Avampato 