Ask and ye shall receive. 
As I said over there, other freelancers are invited to chime in too.
Weird, I coula swore you had already done this (quit your job and started Web freelance full time). Did you make some sort of other announcement about your working life?
I must have had a dream about your dream. That’s good news, right? 
Anyway, Always Brings Pie is right when she points out that “being your own boss” does not mean super schedule freedom. Some days it does but most days it doesn’t. When you ditch having a corporate boss, then all of a sudden every person who is paying you money becomes your boss.
I did freelance writing - mostly copywriting for web sites, training material deveopment, a bit of insurance communication, some popular magazine articles and quite a bit of erotica. Actually, the erotica was the best seller. Even funnier was that I had a talent for it and it was such fun.
As to defeated - well, sometimes I do feel defeated. I do what I do very well, but I promised myself I’d never get involved in office politics again. Sadly, you can’t work in my field for the type of company I do and not get involved. So you learn to enjoy watching others play the game. I play a little, too, but my interests are really doing my work and spending time with my family. Most of the time, working here is fun and challenging, but it can be an exercise in frustration. There are lots of favorites here - I’m not one of them.
Can I have your old job? I won’t grow facial hair.
You’re probably thinking of a thread I started at the height of my discontent here asking for advice. I got some good advice, took it to heart, and am now (finally) acting on it. That was months ago. This has been a slow process, but good.
Yeah, I know. It’s just that in my current position, I work in a cubicle where the closest window is 75 feet away. You have no idea how hard it is to never know what the weather is like outside. I get written up if I’m 5 minutes late to work (not kidding). As a freelancer, I can work near a window! I can take my laptop outside and work on my patio if I want to! I know I’ll (hopefully) be super busy, but those little freedoms mean a lot to me right now.
Sure. I asked if I still get my referral bonus if I refer someone for my old position. I was shot down. So sad.
Yeah, you’re totally right. Working for myself is all I know - other than one internship previous to graduation, I’ve been doing it since I graduated college. So sometimes (JUST sometimes) I find myself wishing I had someone else to point the finger at or to pass my work off on. One of those times is now so I’m kind of down on the whole “working for yourself equals freedom!” idea.
But, come Thursday when I watch The Office, I’m always reminded of how lucky I am. Hehehe
It’s not often I find a thread pitched right over the plate at me, but this one is it.
I quit my “real” job recently, which was teaching*. Walked away from ten years of seniority, good salary (for where I live), and benefits.
In my case, I saw this day coming a while ago. So I saved aggressively for the past few years, enough to last me at least two years without working at all. My only debt is a very modest morgtage, and I hope to get at least three more years out of my car.
Results?
So far, quite good. My hobby has become my job, and despite being an industry affected by gas prices, I have been busy.
But more importantly… I feel like I got my life back.
I’m sleeping better, exercising more, and enjoying going to work. Also doing that other stuff the OP mentioned: taking a walk when it’s nice out, sleeping in on my self-designated days off, etc. I expected this to feel good, but it’s better than I thought.
Down sides: insurance, estimated taxes, yadda yadda.
Also, this wouldn’t work if I had a family. No way I’d have taken that risk if I were responsible for others.
- I’m also doing better teaching in my new job than I ever did in a public school. Ironic that only now do I feel I’m doing what I was trained to do.
Hey, thanks for the inspiration! I know it can be done, and it’s nice to hear the upsides of my situation.
So what is your hobby turned job?
You mean no moustaches, beards, or anything? Do they measure the back of your hair to make sure it’s not too long? I didn’t know any employers still did this.
Yikes.
I work for a 100 year old life insurance company, where the current CEO is the great-great-grandson of the man who started the business. Every CEO has had the same last name, and when the current one retires, his daughter is taking over.
It’s a very… um… traditional company, I guess. They don’t update their policies or code of conduct issues very often at all.
Anyway, this answer turned very long suddenly. Absolutely no beards are allowed. I get away with my sideburns, but was given a warning once when they got too long. No goatees or soul patches allowed. Mustaches, for some reason, are okay. But I would look like an idiot with only a mustache.