I started freelancing while I was dealing with a long physical illness that created so much fatigue, I finally couldn’t work outside my home. And your descriptions of both the upside and downside of freelancing became true for me, too. In fact, after the illness was done (I had a liver transplant that changed everything), I found myself in the depression side of things — mysterious to me at first. And I had picked up some habits that weren’t helpful at all while I was pretty much isolated at home. Some of that was created by my own habits and the place I was living in. Now I’m moving out of the depression but need new habits to get me out and about, and also to get more motivated to move into those new, healthy habits of activity and socializing. One of the things I do is to take myself to a cafe to do my writing. I might only talk to the barista, but I’m coming in contact with other humans!

Thanks for this article — it’s good to know we have company out there!