Freedom is More than Just an Idea

I still remember the day I sat in my cubicle, my infant daughter at home with dad and thought to myself, “this is what it feels like for your soul to die.”

As a rebellious artist raised by rebellious artists, going along with the status quo never appealed to me. And for the first 42 years of my life, I lived a very free life as a professional actress, writer, filmmaker. I always felt free and fulfilled.

When I had my daughter, something switched in me. For the first time in my life, I became afraid and let societal pressure convince me to live conventionally, take a “normal” J.O.B. (Just Over Broke).

Is it just me, or does it seems very very wrong that women are expected to give birth and then hand their babies off to dad (or strangers!) and go work in an institution away from their babies for 8 hours? (This blog post should be not be interpreted as a criticism of women who prefer this lifestyle).

My daughter thought this was unacceptable too. She would NOT take a bottle for more than just a moment at a time to slake her thirst. She waited every day for me to come home and would stay on the breast all night long. Ugh… needless to say, the next day at work was ROUGH.

Somehow we survived those babies years, but I was utterly exhausted. When I was let go during the 2013 recession, I was actually overjoyed! I cobbled together a small income from birth doula work, teaching and writing, but I got to be with my child which was my priority.

When my son came along, the economy got a little tighter still, and when the laws changed in California and we were forced into homeschooling (which turned out to be a huge blessing), I REALLY needed a bigger solution to bring in income that was not a 9-5 job.

Right around this time, I begin seeing a friend of mine, another homeschooling mom, start to make some big changes in the way she was showing up online. She was traveling again and had her spark back.

I was so skeptical that I only watched for five months like a creeper. Although I had known this person for almost 20 years, I was so jaded I just couldn’t believe there were any real solutions out there.

I was so wrong.

Finally I got desperate enough to ask her for more information. When I understood how it all worked and what the income potential was, I jumped in with both feet and have never looked back.

Now, 6 years later, I’ve travelled to Australia and Japan, taken my kids on numerous trips, continued homeschooling my children as a stay-at-home mom and become, for the first time in my life, A 6 FIGURE EARNER.

If I had stayed stuck in the belief that there was no solution for me, I would not be where I am today.

If I had just accepted the status quo, kept slogging it out at the 9-5 missing my daughter and son’s childhoods, I know I would have had terrible regrets.

At the height of lockdowns in 2020, me and family were free, living in the countryside, with income coming in from my online business that I had built.

“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.”— Albert Camus

Freedom is your birthright! Accept nothing less!