The many faces of self-employment

I'm lucky enough to know a lot of people all over the world for various different reasons. Friends, family, work, acquaintances etc etc etc

I want to focus on a rather special breed of people today - The Self Employed.

After a conversation with a good friend of mine recently  (who also happens to be self employed), I got thinking. Ouch.

Out of all the people I know, self employed people wear the most masks. They are the most two faced people on the planet. Now, before you go organising a hate campaign against me, let me explain what I mean.

If an employed person feels ill and they don't go to work the company / team / office cover the job and the world continues turning.
If a self employed person calls in and can't work. hahahahahahahaha sorry that doesn't happen. Self employed people will put on a mask and just get on with it. We're a different breed. If we stop, the world stops with us. or at least our world does. unless we're lucky to have a business partner or the like.

So why do these situations make us two faced? Well the definition of two faced is "someone who is insincere or who acts one way in certain situations and then in a contrary manner in others." (Thanks Google). 
A self employed person will tell you everything in the world is perfect, they'll plaster on a smile, get your work done and soldier on. You'll not see the other side of things where they're exhausted and just haven't got the energy to go on any more. These people will stand at shows and events for 10 hours, smiling at you and making you feel welcome, answer your questions and you wouldn't be able to tell that they are in mental and physical pain, they're exhausted and all they want to do is curl up and sleep.

The self employed don't have the luxury of a clocking off time or a set weekend. Not really. If it seems that way to the outside world it's probably because the self employed person has just pulled a 90 hour week so they could enjoy a rare long weekend. They'll then have to do it all again the following week just to catch up.

I've been thinking about the mask of a self employed person for a very long time and it's nice to see, after talking with other self employed people that i'm "normal". You will not hear me saying that very often.

So, this Christmas season, why not give a self employed person a hug. Because I guarantee they'll need it, even if they are smiling and laughing. They will be wearing a mask, because that's what they do. They will tell you everything is ok - not because they want to lie but it's easier that way.

Much Love
Miss Make It Happen

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