The Energy Agreement: Becoming a Freelancer

Some of us at some point in our lives feel an inner pull to try making a partial or full living as a freelance writer, artist, musician, film creator, or some other kind of creative solo worker.

I am here to say it's possible.

You may have tried to disregard this little tug. Maybe, like me, you've spent considerable time in the 8-to-5 (or 6-to-6) workplace, toiling away for The Man. After all, freelancing is not for those who get the shakes just thinking about giving up their dental and vision insurance. It's entirely appropriate that "Precarity (Uncertainty of Work) is a "see also" entry at the end of the Wikipedia entry on "Freelancer."

In spite of precarity -- maybe even because of the allure of it -- some of us are simply called to venture into the territory of the freelancer. I believe that when freelancing is your right livelihood, the universe opens up the possibilities. Call it spiritual, or metaphysical, or mystical: something opens up for those who puruse the lives they're meant to lead. We may not get rich in the process, but we certainly lead very rich lives when we listen to our hearts.

Joseph Campbell, the late scholar who studied myths and religions across cultures, said, "I have a superstition that has grown on me as the result of invisible hands coming all the time -- namely, that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a akind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one that you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in the field of your bliss, and they open the doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and the doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be" (Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth).

I do believe there's an invisible-hand layer of freelancing. There's something about hanging out your shingle that triggers the work to start coming your way...work that's suited to you just when you need it, although sometimes not a minute before.

In fact, about every six months I make an agreement with the hidden hands. I call it "The Energy Agreement." I renew it every six months, and it goes like this:

"For the next year I will base my exchange with the world around me on energy, rather than money. I will give my best and most joyful, creative and playful energy, and I will trust that my needs for resources will be met. I won't worry about money or time. In exactly six months, I'll see how this trust experiment is going."

I put a time frame on my Energy Agreement because even with the best, most earnest Energy Agreement, freelancing isn't all about hidden hands opening doors and leading us to pots of gold. Otherwise everybody's brother would be doing it, right? There are plenty of downs with the ups -- maybe more than most jobs. You're working without a net, after all, and it's very easy to lose your balance -- if not financially, then mentally. It takes discipline and stamina to work instead of go hiking, to to deal with the solitude that at first seemed appealing but eventually can get overwhelmingly lonely.

Still, with current technology, it's never been easier to work from nearly anywhere with a laptop, printer, and cell phone. (I'm sitting in a coffee shop as we speak.) If you are disciplined, and if you are willing to trust the hidden hands for help, and if you have a partner who carries benefits or if you are willng to purchase benefits like many other self-employed people, and if you're willing to accept work that may feel "beneath" you or not as "creative" as you'd like, then freelancing can be a viable option for a livelihood.

Making your own Energy Agreement may be just the place to start. And you don't have to quit your day job just yet to get the cosmic ball rolling. My advice is this: go slow, but if you think freelancing is for you, give it a try -- even if it's just a few hours a week at the beginning -- and see if you notice invisible hands starting to help.