Lol. I don't have any free time. That's what I was lamenting. I am in my 40s and have made a career of my artwork for the last 15 years (I paint murals), so it's a little harder starting fresh.

I moved away from L.A. for a few years to go to grad school and afterwards, was offered a really interesting business proposition in another city, which fell through, so I made the best of it there until I could save up enough to come back here. I ultimately left that city because I was in/trying to get out of an extremely emotionally abusive and increasingly violent relationship. He stalked me, broke out my front windows more than one, broke into my house... the police made several reports on him because they were afraid he would kill me. THAT'S why I don't want to go back there to do any work. I still get multiple requests a month to come paint, but when I have, I get triggered and highly anxious. It's just not good for me. Besides the job, I'm actually in a good place emotionally. It's just going to take me a while to rebuild the clientele I used to have here.

So, right now, I am doing design production for an agency that does junk mail. Pretty much most junk mail that comes to your mailbox. I have some real moral issues with having a hand in producing something I abhore. Also, I took a lower job than I am qualified for because I was desperate for work and I thought it would be less stressful than straight up design, and I was wrong about that. I have some options that are going to take some time, and I know that that's a lot more than some people and I need to just remember to be grateful.