Ah, the joy of working for yourself. Doing a bunch of work and then waiting a month or two to get paid. Sometimes not getting paid at all. Regular chats with creditors who don’t seem to comprehend not having a regular paycheck. Bidding for jobs. Being underbid by dilettantes and lesser talents. Paying the bills while banks and millionaires declare bankruptcy and restructure. Taxes. Scope creep. Difficult clients.
There are good points, of course. I don’t like being tied to a cubicle. I like meeting and working with different people. I like being able to take a day (or even just an hour) off if I feel like it, or to take a trip or look after my son. I like working at home or in a library or on an airplane.
It’s not for everyone. But I guess it’s still for me, for a while.
In some ways it sounds like you exchanged a cubicle for a hamster wheel (and I don’t mean to be unkind by saying that). On balance, I expect the good outweighs the bad, so perhaps it’s a fair trade off.
I don’t envy you going through the bidding process, though.