Definitely meandering, but your path sounds very interesting! The jumping between sales and writing, as well as doing freelance before switching back to a "regular" job, definitely seems like it would be a way to keep things feeling new. I feel like there are some interesting stories behind some of those switches, especially in switching in and out of freelance, and the move from pro sports to writing. I find it super fascinating how you jump around--my "real life" experience is still very limited, and all my friends/family have worked in very narrow fields or single jobs for most of their lives.
I don't think I have the skills to pitch as a freelancer yet--my writing still tends to be jumpy and uncoordinated. The best thing for that is probably just practice, practice, and more practice, so now that I've finally gotten over the burnout stage of my summer job I'm getting back to writing more of what I actually care about. We'll see how it goes, I guess?
My writing program at college requires the creation of a portfolio of work and a final comprehensive project to graduate, so hopefully that'll give me a body of work to pull from when I get out into the main job market.
As for how I got into ERE: I definitely wasn't the best highschool student, I was just more unorthodox in my time-wasting. Most people played mobile games and then quickly switched to something academic when the teacher passed by, but my move was to just spend my time reading info-dense articles. They looked academic enough that teachers would assume I was being productive. I ended up burning entire school days on Slate Star Codex and ERE, for no more complex reason than that they fascinated me and made time pass quickly.
If you mean a more general "how did I stumble across the site," I'm generally known for my very intense obsessions with researching certain topics. I had a ultralight-hiking phase that turned into a RV-living phase that somehow led me
here that somehow prompted me to search something that led to ERE, which sparked a very intense multi-year obsession with understanding finances, investment, self-sufficiency, etc. (Re: lifetime of servitude, I think what immediately hooked me on the entire idea was just that the idea of owning my own life and time was so radically different from what I had been taught was possible, and what my adult models were doing... it definitely just made me think, and the more I thought the more absurd it seemed to sell huge chunks of my life for things that didn't actually improve my quality of life in any meaningful way.)
I really appreciate the advice! I definitely should be reaching out more to my peers (I'm not particularly abrasive, just evasive). None of my friends are in the same field I am, so it's good to remember to reach out to those whose jobs will be much more closely linked with mine. The gratitude advice is probably the most important though, especially at my current job... I definitely need to take a moment to remember how grateful I am to be able to do what I do, even when it isn't my first choice.
(Also, complete aside, but I thought I'd be able to change my name later when I came up with something more clever, so now I'm sorely regretting locking myself into a very basic username... if I mysteriously disappear to be replaced with another account with the exact same background info, you'll know why)
