“Life is a wilderness, not a runway.” Is this true? As someone who has been working as a freelancer for 7 years and has interviewed more than a hundred people who are not working, I believe that life is neither a wilderness nor a track, but a roller coaster full of ups and downs and variables.
7 years ago, I quit my job and embarked on a journey of interviewing freelancers. Looking at those interviewees now, their current situation is heart-wrenching.
A friend who once opened a cat cafe opened a cat cafe in Shanghai in 2018. His store was called an Internet celebrity store and once expanded to 4-5 stores. After graduating from college, because he liked raising cats, and in order to avoid opposition from his family, he opened this store at the suggestion of his friends. However, the three-year epidemic has been like a storm and has had a serious impact on physical stores. Today, there is only one of his cat cafes left in Shanghai.
And a friend of mine who is a screenwriter. At the time of the interview, his career was just getting on track and the script was about to be released. However, when the epidemic hit, the film and television industry suffered a heavy blow. Over the years, he has thought many times that the book could be released in theaters, but it has never been possible due to practical reasons. Since his income as a screenwriter was not good, he also tried to switch to writing novels.
The friend who started a remote work website noticed the trend of remote work and digital nomads early on. But some time ago, I found out that his entrepreneurial project had been terminated and I returned to work.
Not everyone is struggling, though. My roommate Lily had just returned from her overseas trip at the time of the interview. She doesn't have much savings and plans to start a business with her partners to build a ukulele brand. She invested more than 20,000 yuan of her savings to produce the piano she designed. During the epidemic, because people cannot go out, many people want to learn musical instruments at home, which is good for her brand. In the early days of business, monthly sales reached about 200,000. Today, she has a regular monthly passive income from the ukulele brand and has successfully transformed into a traveling musician. She lives in Dali and travels around the world in her spare time.
From their experiences, I learned that life is a wavy line filled with joy and sorrow. The general environment of our time, such as the epidemic, has a huge impact on individuals and is difficult to control. Like my friend who runs a remote work startup website, the results may have been different if the idea had been implemented during or after the pandemic. Friends who open cat cafes all understand that no business can always make money, and they also know how to prepare for a rainy day. Lily, on the other hand, faces everything with a good attitude. Since we cannot control the external environment, all we can do is adjust our mentality and do what we need to do. In the long run, efforts that may seem futile now may bring unexpected rewards one day in the future.
There's no need to rush, just take your time. The important thing is to always work and live the way you like, so that opportunities will come one after another. I am Lin Anan, a freelancer and content creator who has not been working for 7 consecutive years. This year I will continue my journey to explore the lives and stories of more non-workers, freelancers, and digital nomads. If you like my sharing, please like, follow and share with one click. See you next time! Due to the noisy environment in Shanghai, the background sound was disturbed during the video recording. We apologize for your understanding.
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