The World of Freelancing , America's New Economy and what I learned on my Summer Vacation

Welcome to my world. Layed off just a little over a month ago from the closest to job security in advertising as you were ever likely to get. The people I worked with were even nice. No need to worry about the proverbial advertising/mafia knife in the back. Scratches and near misses were acceptable, but, rarely the former. So.. what happens?

I"m terminated...yes, that's what it's called. Just like that. Not like Kafka's Metamorphosis, That's big. This is small.
And.. you have to deal with the smallness of severance, and unemployment insurance and polishing up your resumé, and starting all over again.

So, what does the fabulous me do? I take a vacation. Yes, I take a vacation. To Spain. To discover my Galician roots. I take my mother (who knows all about being Galician without ever being there) -- but that's another post. I invite my sister. This is utter suicide. It could have been. But, it wasn't. It was AMAZING. The place was wonderful, (even with the crazy fires) and my family: the one I took and the one I discovered were wondeful. I'll post pics.
Discovery is a wonderful thing, it converts old prejudices into wonderful new insights and new ones, well, the new ones are just new.

Santiago de Compostela, for those not in the know, is a wonderful little city. It's probably second to Jerusalem in pilgrimages.
It's interesting, because the pilgrimages tie in the pageantry and history of the Catholic religion with Celtic traditions and all kinds of crazy lore. It's for the faithful, but, also for the athletic. Particularly for the fervently athletic. People can hike, walk or bike from several different paths to Santiago. What do they do once they arrrive? They go to mass at the Cathedral. At a strategic point towards the end of the Mass -- several of the attendant priests help to maneuver the very old and large "botafumeiro"--(this is an incense burner) so that it effectively begins to swing from one end of the vaulted cruciform to the other. This is the best show in town. Originally, (and now as well) this served to clean the air from the pilgrims' foul smelling odors . Nowadays, deodorants, notwithstanding, it still helps. Remember, they've hiked and biked for miles. Yes, some are in great shape and even handsome, but, they have not showered yet.

Aside from the Mass, if one is inclined and a believer (in any faith, really) one prays. I prayed for work. My mother prayed
for me to get work. My cell phone rang. They were calling from New York. I had an interview. I had an interview for a freelance job. And there you have it.

Now, I'm in the throes of it. I'm experienced, yes, I'm fabulous, yes. Before, however, I had a support team. Here I'm my own one (wo)man band and figuring out what programs I have or have not installed on my Power Book G4. Dealing with the expectations of a smaller agency culture and adapting to new environments on the fly.
Forgetting about the match in the 401K and health insurance.... Oh, heck, it's called free...lance....and it's what America's working culture does.