What The World Needs Now Is love

It is the start of a fantastic year, and I want to share my enthusiasm with everyone. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of not so great stuff that’s been going on lately. With lots of layoffs in 2008, and more on the way (I heard Microsoft is planning to cut thousands of their workforce) a lot of people are hurt, worried, and scrambling for a new path.

If you are a freelancer right now, you may not have traditional work worries, but your finances may be tight at the moment too. That’s okay. We are all in need of new solutions and new ideas to push past the 2008 slump. Some people, with the traditional dog-eat-dog scarcity mentality, are becoming bitter and aggressive in their new ventures.

It is an understandable reaction, as the uncertainty of our lives can strike fear into the hearts of many people. Yet I do not think this is necessary. In the online community, there are so many ways to make a living, and a good one at times. It takes a lot of work, even the “smart instead of hard” work. You will invest a lot of sweat and tears in your efforts, and the results may not be immediate.

We need to build each other up during these times. We need to push each other on to greatness, even if we don’t see ourselves in a stable position yet. When we promote each other, we will all succeed.

Many people find this difficult. They still believe that life is a stiff competition, with clear winners and losers. Yet with all the options available to us, we can all win. We may not be the first runner across the finish line, yet as long as we cross it, we will have succeeded.

Here’s an example: two freelance writers (who are also friends) apply for a job. One gets the job, one doesn’t. The first writer has crossed the finish line first. Many times, this is the end of the story.

However, if there is a spirit of community, the first writer might recommend the second to additional clients in search of new writers (since he is busy with his new job.) Then, the second writer gets a writing job, and has also crossed the finish line of success. In a scarcity mindset, this doesn’t happen.

The first writer would keep all his new client contacts to himself, and not share his potential for success with his friends. He may take on additional jobs, hoarding the potential income for himself. He might even take the new jobs, and become overloaded and burnt out.

In that scenario, nobody wins. I want to remind you all, that the online community is a powerful and beautiful thing. It gives us the needed support, even in the roughest times. It can bring us cheer and motivation, when we aren’t at our best.

In short, you can’t go wrong with community. Spread the love to all your online friends and acquaintances. Do what you can to help them, and we will all get through this year. Together.

This post was submitted by Kimberlee Ferrell.

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