career

The morning dread. The withdrawal from co-workers and loved ones. The point is: my job was no longer working for me. And it was time, debt or no debt, to set myself free.

For many people — myself included — working from home is a dream. But it’s not all sunshine and daisies. Work is work, and work can be difficult sometimes.

About a year ago, I was working at a small company of less than 10 employees. I didn’t feel valued, and everyone around me berated one another. Although I was fortunate enough to escape being treated with derision by my coworkers, I’m positive had I stayed any longer, it wouldn’t have been the case.

To blame [my mother] for all parts of me that are broken wouldn't be kind. She isn't responsible for who I am today. That said, on a subconscious level, I am the mother I am because of the mother I had.

A lot of people say that running your own business as a parent affords the freedom you don’t have when you’re working for someone else, but what about the financial pressures of stepping back and having a person or team replace you while you’re away? Furthermore, there’s talk of work-life balance being a moot point in this day and age. With so many entrepreneurs, creatives and freelancers following unconventional career paths, particularly in the online world, when do working mums switch off from work and onto family life?

What is success? How do I define it now, and is it constitutive of or separate from happiness?

Working as a stay-at-home mom benefits your kids. Working out of the home benefits your kids. In other words: you’re doing it right. Yes, you. All of you.

Writing can be hard and uncomfortable and precarious—but it's hard and uncomfortable and precarious in the way that any job can be.