Hey, there! How are you?
I want to welcome all the people who has just landed here either by chance or by choice.
It’s always a pleasure to have you in my blog. I was reading my stats and there has been a massive increase in number of visits.
I think I should start writing a little more often, which is an absolute must lately. I would like to start writing about my experience as a freelancer. I went through a lot this year. I must confess that I didn’t expect to have the chance to meet all these wondeful people, who at first were only “colleagues” but I can call “friends” now.
You are very precious stars in this wide sky where we work shining and standing out.
Thank you so much for the helpful suggestions, the ideas shared at night when we are working on neverending assignments, while drinking uncountable cups of coffee.
I’m so grateful for the new clients who popped up out of nowhere, thanks to social media and networking.
Furthermore, I had the chance to work for some of my entrepreneurial icons. I think I can’t be happier. I know it sound childish, but it was very important to me. You try to follow the steps of somebody who is a model for you from far and, one day, they notice you. It’s like, suddenly, you knew that you are going in the right direction. So, THANK YOU.
I want to keep learning and feeding my hunger, because I want to answer all the questions I still have about this career, which is a multifaceted way of working. It allows you to choose how to organise your day – although, sometimes, you feel more like a juggler than a translator – and how to complete all the assignments in time preserving coherence and quality. Plus, I’m going to get rid of all the toxic aspects of this life I chose for myself.
There was a tough time when I wanted to give up, because I thought I couldn’t achieve my goals. I felt hopeless and it was a direct consequence of my choices. It wasn’t anybody else’s fault but mine. Therefore, I wanted to change something and I decided it was the right time to spread my wings and sore alone.
When you work with people who treat you like you were just the means to get what they want, well, that’s not cooperation, that’s exploitation.
Don’t allow anybody to poison your [working] life. I know a lot of people out there can relate to this point. So, just speak the truth, it will set you free. We can count only on ourselves. At the end of the day, we have to thank ourselves for any little thing we gained. Don’t let other people appropriate your success and results.
There’s only YOU in this equation. Choose wisely. Always be surrounded by people you like and who deserve your trust.
That said, I hope to have you here when I publish the New Year’s resolutions 2015. I’m planning something new and going to reveal some points in the last post of the year at the end of December. There’s a lot to do, but I know I can do it one step at a time.
Stay tuned!
Wishing you a great week!
See you soon,
~Chiara
December will be magic again by Kate Bush
(live piano version – Xmas version)
December will be magic again.
Take a husky to the ice
While Bing Crosby sings White Christmas. He makes you feel nice.
December will be magic again.
Old Saint Nicholas up the chimney,
Just a-popping up in my memory.
Ooh, dropping down in my parachute,
The white city, she is so beautiful
Upon the black-soot icicled roofs,
Ooh, and see how I fall.
See how I fall
(“Fall!”) [backwards]
Like the snow.
Come to cover the lovers.
(Cover the lovers,
But don’t you wake them up.)
Come to sparkle the dark up.
(Sparkle the dark up,
With just a touch of make-up.)
Come to cover the muck up.
(Cover the muck up,
Ooh, with a little luck.)
December will be magic again.
Light the canDLe-lights
To conjure Mr. Wilde
Into the Silent Night.
Ooh, it’s quiet inside,
Here in Oscar’s mind.
December will be magic again.
Don’t miss the brightest star.
Kiss under mistletoe.
I want to hear you laugh.
Don’t let the mystery go now.
Ooh, dropping down in my parachute,
The white city, she is so beautiful
Upon the black-soot icicled roofs,
Ooh, and see how I fall.
See how I fall
(“Fall!”) [backwards]
Like the snow.
Come to cover the lovers.
(Cover the lovers,
But don’t you wake them up.)
Come to sparkle the dark up.
(Sparkle the dark up,
With just a touch of make-up.)
Come to cover the muck up
(Cover the muck up,
Ooh, with a little luck.)
Oh, I’m coming to cover the lovers.
Ooh, and I’m coming to sparkle the dark up.
One Sec Translations di Chiara Bartolozzi 
You are so right, Chiara. Sometimes we poison ourselves because of our sensibility. So much to learn. Wishing you to always be strong and amazing.
PS: Such a beautiful moodboard. You are very creative!! Buon Natale.
Thank you, Magda! 🙂
I’ve always been struggling with accepting people can be very mean and wretched. Sometimes, at first, when you meet new people, you just can’t see what lies beneath the surface. You might jump in a bad situation having lots of problems, which you didn’t expect to arise. Then, you have to fix your life. When this involves both your daily and working life, it becomes a very big issue. But, we have to be stronger than our fear. We are not ruining what we have already built, because, actually, it doesn’t exist at all. If it is corrupted and poisoned, it can’t lead you anywhere. You can get rid of it. (I learnt my lesson) 🙂
Buon Natale!
Hi Chiara! Well done you for toughing it out and choosing a positive attitude! I also experienced the doubt and frustration you speak of, and it’s true that it’s all down to us. I think that freelancers have to really learn to be proactive and take the initiative; being the drivers of our own professional destinies comes with weighty responsibilities. Still, once you realise this, the entire lifestyle transforms into something wonderful 🙂
Hi Marie! Thank you for stopping by.
I know, you are so right!
We also are “a little bit of everything all rolled into one” (quoting directly from “Bitch” by Meredith Brooks). We are owners, accountants, designers, social media strategists, translators, interpreters, partners, girlfriends, wives, mothers, and so on. Sometimes we have to be problem solvers, as well.
It’s a hard task, because you have to step out using your own energy and will. I’m very sensitive and I guess so are you. You have to analise things from a different perspective, which basically means you have to act like you were a stranger. I couldn’t give myself an edifying advice at the time, so I cut myself off from everything for a while. It worked, but I still needed a little help from people who experienced that before. People like you, of course. 🙂 Freelancers with a big heart who know their value and can help others having their working life back on track. It should be a movement: “Freelancers will help freelancers”. x
Freelancers should always help freelancers! That’s why I offer free chats with colleagues in my newsletter. Freelancing can be lonely at first, but it only stays that way if people shut off from each other. Big hearts are always better than a big ego! Have a wonderful Christmas 🙂 X
Words of wisdom. Thank you, Marie. Really. 🙂
Have a fantastic one, you too! x
Lovely post, Chiara!
I’ve just read it, right after I had written and posted my own 2014 wrap-up, and it’s amazing how we are grateful for similar things. Colleagues/friends are indeed precious. I hope we can engage more in the upcoming year.
I loved your blog! 🙂 Congrats!
Happy holidays! 🙂
Thank you, Caroline! I left a message on your blog. 🙂
xx