Every photographer has a self-portrait like this.
I love being a freelance photographer. It’s fun, I get to meet all sorts of new people, it gets me into all kinds of unexpected and rewarding situations, and I get to have lots of freedom (the most important reason why I love what I do).
Early this year I decided I was having a burnout. I had been working nonstop and too hard for too long, it was time for a break. I packed up for a 2-month holiday. I spent a month in Taiwan learning to do nothing, and another month backpacking around Europe, hopping from Dubrovnik in Croatia to Budapest, Prague, Munich…
People-watching in Copenhagen.
Experiencing the intense beauty of Prague.
The thing I love most about being a freelance photographer is how I have the freedom to decide that I’m tired, and then the freedom to take the break that I need.
On days when I don’t have a shoot I wake up any time I want. Some days I wake up early to work and watch the morning light filter into my living room. Some days I let myself sleep till I wake naturally.
The sort of freedom I yearn for is not merely physical, but mental.
Freedom is being able to sometimes do nothing at all, and simply be.
I never wanted to work 9-5 in an office cubicle. I knew it before I ever stepped into one. And of course I had to try it once to see if I was right. 6 months later and I was out, even though I was working at an arts organisation and it was the kind of place where you could legitimately nap after lunch and come in late whenever you wanted and just leave for home later. It was the kind of place that trusted you with freedom, and still it wasn’t free enough for me (I’ll have to admit that in this department I am a little extreme).
So it’s safe to say that I love the work I do now (and my life), and all the freedom that it affords me.
Everyone can have this sort of freedom. All you need to do is choose it. Of course, it’s easier said than done, but the first step indeed is to make a decision on the kind of life you want to live.
I know it’s hard, and there are many mental walls to break down.
But I want to help.
Tomorrow I will send out the first issue of my email newsletter. It’s a humble little thing with a big mission at its heart. With this email newsletter I hope to provide a starting point for people who dream of doing their own thing to go out there and actually start doing. And in the meantime, to build a tribe made up of fellow dreamers and fellow creators.
Come join me.
Sign up for the newsletter below, and I’ll see you in your inbox 😉