Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Portfolio working

I've found my calling!!!!!! Or shall I say callingS?
I've already said that coming back after a year traveling was much harder than I ever imagined. Of course, I knew I’d have to readjust, but I kept reassuring myself than it would be fine… after all, I was happy before I went. I didn’t realize how much I had changed, how, in experiencing so many different cultures and people (locals and travelers), I had started to think that we all have to find OUR way to be happy.
Working is of course, a big part of our lives (unless you win the lottery, something I'm working on!), so how happy we are in the work place does make a difference. I do like my job as an editor in a big educational publishing house, but I cannot bear thinking that I’m going to be doing the same thing for 30 more years. Of course, freelancing is an option, but I don’t feel comfortable with no fixed income, either. And so I was getting restless, angry at myself, beating myself for not being "normal", always getting bored of everything so easily, ungrateful, when so many people are losing their jobs...
Until I found an article in a magazine (I forget which one) about portfolio working! 'Portfolio working' basically means having several jobs or sources of income, either it being two part time jobs, one part time job and some freelance work, freelance in several different areas, having your own business and working part time at the same time... it is a working life tailored to your other life, you know, the important one.
This is now my medium term goal, building a portfolio of jobs. Writing and editing are always going to be a big part of my personal and professional life… but I’ll complement them with other things, that I've done in the past or that I want to explore. Right now, I’m excited about teaching, translating and magazine writing again, and I'm looking forward to explore stationary, textiles, bookbinding, photography… I only need to find a way to bring them all together.
Crazy? My mother certainly thinks so...
To find more about portfolio working, go here and here.

2 comments:

  1. Dear B Hope you manage to pull this off, sounds like a good plan.
    I would avoid paying anyone for a planning session though!
    I think you can get there without any help.
    Good Luck x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh no, I don't think I need to do that. I'm going to start by finding freelance work that I can do in the evenings and weekends... Will keep you posted. Thanks for your advice!

    ReplyDelete

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