As freelancers, we have the chance to give something back.
The "free" in freelancing can mean a number of things. You can work for free because a client doesn't pay. It also means you're often free to make your own schedule to add something else to your life. While I've experienced the former, it's the latter that has been transformative for me.
I play guitar and sing. Since I have the time, I volunteer as a music therapist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Basically I do my one-man rock festival for cancer patients. Last week there were four people, probably in their late 20's, sitting in the front row. One was a patient hooked up to an IV. I figured the others were his friends. A few bars into Bob Seger's “Old Time Rock and Roll,” one woman pulled the patient out of his chair and they started dancing. The other couple jumped up and joined in. They were boogying their butts off. When the song was over, they sat down and one of the friends came up to me to thank me for that song. She said, tilting her head toward the patient and woman next to him, "They're getting married in a few weeks. We can't be there so this is our way of dancing at their wedding." How could I not tear up at that?
My point is that if I wasn’t freelancing, I wouldn't be able to make the time to do this. As freelancers, we have the chance to give something back that no paycheck, no matter how big, could. Rock on.
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