#eggsandwhich

What’s it like working for yourself? Late mornings, working in PJs, meeting friends for coffee in the middle of the day right?

No. In reality, it’s more work than ever before, feeling like you are juggling eggs when it comes to finances, and barely ever seeing friends. I think especially when you’re starting out, every free moment is given over to work. And when you’re in the weeds, you kind of have to figure it out for yourself. When I see those posters that say “When you do what you love, it doesn’t feel like work” I get mad. It does feel like work. Very, very hard work. A lot of work.

But, am I happy? Yes. A couple of people this week raised their eyebrows and asked me, “wait, you want to be a freelancer?” And the answer is yes. It’s hard, and sometimes you don’t know how you’re going to do it. But I wouldn’t trade this in to go to an office everyday and sit at a desk. Today, while I’m kicking off a project with a team, and sending out a proposal, I’m also making a pie for a potluck later tonight. That’s the kind of thing I wouldn’t be able to do if I worked in an office. And I’ve realized that having the freedom to do that is important to me.

Now to lunch. In one of my favorite cookbooks, Japanese Farm Food, the author talks about being newly married, not having a lot of money, and basically eating eggs all the time because it was cheap (her husband was also an egg farmer). Freelancing forces you to eat on a budget. And eggs, as well as what I call immigrant food (rice, lentils, yogurt, cheap vegetables like sweet potatoes, potatoes, onions), become your staple. There haven’t been any fancy micro greens here lately.

Egg Sandwich

Slice and pan toast some good bread (it’s cheap, but splurging just a little makes it exponentially better)

Scramble some eggs in butter (hot pan, and then low and slow once the eggs go in)

On one side of the bread, butter, on the other side, mustard. Top with eggs and scarf down before getting back to work.