People are self-absorbed assholes.
If you ever take up freelancing, or work a part-time job on a regular basis, no matter what kind, you will have to contend with how astonishingly self-centered and myopic your closest friends and family are. They don't realize it, and niether do you until you are not working full-time. Even if you are freelancing full-time hours (or more!) they still don't get it. Do not think your dearest kith and kin will be the exception to this, they will not. It is not an "if" type of thing, it is something you can count on.
They will not see what you are doing as actual work. You might be better than a welfare case in their eyes, but once they know you have extra time in your week compared to others or that you have control over your schedule you instantly become A: a slacker or B: their imagined errand boy or C: all of the above.
Oh sure, they will never come out and *say* that they don't value what you are doing or respect your choice of work/ lifestyle, but trust me, they don't. They will show you in their actions and unconscious attitudes. "I know you are doing what you love" is what they say but the unspoken end of that sentence is "by being a lazy bum or feckless dreamer."
God forbid you actually do spend a lot of time with them on a regular basis because then you are fucked. If you start working full time after they get used to being able to call you up on a moment's notice to help them or visit them, and then suddenly you are no longer at their back and call...well, get ready for a shitstorm of guilt as they whine and cry about how you are alienating them and how you are so aloof now.
Finally got a real job? Great! Now quit being so inconsiderate and service their insecurities! Its not like you miss having all that free time to yourself! Losing an extra 20 -25 hours a week off your previously flexible schedule couldn't possibly mean you need to spend any less time with them, right?!
They will not see what you are doing as actual work. You might be better than a welfare case in their eyes, but once they know you have extra time in your week compared to others or that you have control over your schedule you instantly become A: a slacker or B: their imagined errand boy or C: all of the above.
Oh sure, they will never come out and *say* that they don't value what you are doing or respect your choice of work/ lifestyle, but trust me, they don't. They will show you in their actions and unconscious attitudes. "I know you are doing what you love" is what they say but the unspoken end of that sentence is "by being a lazy bum or feckless dreamer."
God forbid you actually do spend a lot of time with them on a regular basis because then you are fucked. If you start working full time after they get used to being able to call you up on a moment's notice to help them or visit them, and then suddenly you are no longer at their back and call...well, get ready for a shitstorm of guilt as they whine and cry about how you are alienating them and how you are so aloof now.
Finally got a real job? Great! Now quit being so inconsiderate and service their insecurities! Its not like you miss having all that free time to yourself! Losing an extra 20 -25 hours a week off your previously flexible schedule couldn't possibly mean you need to spend any less time with them, right?!