It’s About Showing Up

This was the view I had while on my client call. Living a laptop life truly means working from anywhere … including riverside coffee shops with wifi and plenty of Adirondack chairs to get cozy in.

Yesterday as I was wrapping up a call about content and Google Analytics, my client said to me, “Charlsie, I need to tell you something.”

Immediately my heart sank. I started to think the worst. Was I about to be fired? Was she unhappy about something? Was she going to tell me some horrible, no good news?

I braced myself.

Instead, she said, “You found me when I thought I was done with my business and this industry. You pitched me your services and told me you believed in my writing and the work I do, and the light inside of me that was dim and nearly out immediately reignited. Since working with you, I have become filled with passion again and I really love my business and the goals I have set. Before I was barely showing up for myself and for the work but now every day I show up wholeheartedly. I do it for myself and I do it for you to express the gratitude of what you’ve given me. I show up every day now because the journey you’ve helped carve out for my business is bigger than I ever dreamt it could be. I show up every day and I have you to thank for that.”

I’ve never met this client in person. She’s out on the West Coast. I’m on the East Coast. We connected on LinkedIn last June. I was moved by her writing. Truly inspired and moved in an authentic way. So, I pitched her customized services that I knew could optimize her business opportunities. And as they say … the rest is history.

I needed to hear what she told me. I needed to hear that when I show up for the people I have taken in as part of this freelance life, it means something.

Brené Brown said it best, “I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness — it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude.”

When I’ve worked on big teams or with multimillion-dollar brands, it often felt like nothing ever really meant anything — so this feeling of the work connecting on a bigger, brighter level is brand new and special to me.

I’m learning every day as I go along.

I say it every day and I’ll keep saying it, freelancing is fucking hard. But even on my worst days, the days when I’m tired and cranky, something always ends up making me feel like I’m right where I need to be.

It’s coming together.

It’s connecting.

And I’m so honored and humbled to show up every day for myself, my clients, my friends, my family, the work, and the process.