One of the challenges of being self-employed is convincing people to respect your time and your untraditional career choice. At a cookout this past weekend, it seemed like every person I met assumed I'd gone freelance after getting laid off. "So, is this a temporary thing? Do you see yourself doing this long-term?"
Uh, no. And yes.
As long as I have clients who pay me to do what I love, why would I trade the ability to choose my own projects and work on my own time for a cubicle and a commute? I understand their confusion and their concern for my finances. But freelancing is a viable career option if you're disciplined and determined and not stuck on only making artistic or literary masterpieces (which may or may not be marketable). Most of us don't have parents (or spouses) paying our way nor do we plan on jumping back into an 8-5 job when the economy improves. I actually like what I do, and *surprise!* I earn a decent living doing it. A lot of the people I know have one or the other, not both.
I don't mind random strangers who just don't get it. But I'm not sure I could have a close friend (or closer still, a boyfriend) who saw freelancing as a phase and didn't respect my work.
What about you? Do your friends and significant others get what you do? Do you ever get tired of explaining to them that "actually, I can't meet you for lunch/go to the beach/pick up your dry cleaning because I'm on deadline"?