I recently ended my employment at Target after five years. It was a great experience. Going from backroom team member to team lead, I learned a lot about myself and even more about leadership, responsibility, and the rewards of hard, regular work. But recently Target corporate decided to go in a direction that I felt made my job impossible to accomplish. And I don’t have the strength of character to labor on day after day with no hope of success. So, after the holiday rush was over (I wasn’t going to abandon my team in the middle of fourth quarter. I’m not a monster!), I put in my notice.

So now, after five years of regular paychecks, I’m back to freelancing. I’m far better prepared for it than I once was. I’ve become used to getting up every day and going to work, so that’s what I still do. Only now, my work is once again writing books and designing websites, recording music and playing gigs. It’s work I appreciate much more after five years in the warehouse. Not that I regret a minute spent at Target. I loved my job and my team, and I’m sad that it ended. But the workload and stress level had increased to a point where I would come home from work too exhausted and anxious to write. And as an author, finding myself unable to write was an existential dread of the highest order.

So despite the irregularity, uncertainty, and just sheer daunting-ness of self-employment, I dive back in excited and optimistic for the adventure ahead.