High Water on the Mississippi
June 18th, 2005 Posted in Introspection
Yesterday I went for a bike ride and noticed just how high the Mississippi River has become. Thanks to all the rain we’ve had, the water is creeping up the shore, covering paths and docks and leaving trees and shrubs submerged.
I can relate. I’ve been pretty busy myself. Not eye-twitching busy, but I’ve still had a lot going on. And it’s not just work. I’ve found that working at home the work comes and goes and it can be fairly stressful, but just because you meet a deadline doesn’t mean things let up. They just keep rising.
And if it’s not deadlines rising, it’s something else. Like bills or laundry or dishes or grass or dog poop.
Honestly, the freelancing isn’t that different from having a “real” job. The biggest difference is that you’re in control of your own destiny, so to speak. And with it comes the risk of having an income-free destiny. There’s the same risk with a real job. You’re just as likely to get fired as I am to not find a job next month. Real jobs come with false security. Doing freelance work forces you to come to terms with just how false that security is.
Sometimes I think ignorance is bliss.
Life in general, whether you work 9 to 5 or 6 to 2 or downtown or at home, is always a massive river. The water rises and falls, the current can take you away, and try as we might to dam the river or make it more navigable, it’s still an out of control beast. Sometimes it’s lazy and still, other times it’s falling and surging. Sometimes we get a little too focused on this snag or that split, and we forget the thousands of miles before and behind us.
