When I first decided to start freelancing, I was nervous about it, and my soon-to-be-ex-editor asked me a question: What's the worst thing that could happen?
My answer was that I would find no work, lose all my savings and my boyfriend, and have to move back in with my mom. And I realized...hey, that wasn't that scary at all.
My worst case scenario was, in truth, not bad. Which made it a very easy choice to take an economic chance.
If your worst case scenario is "I'll be fine no matter what, and I have my parents to fall back on," then you are a lucky person. It doesn't matter how much you have scrimp or save, you actually *cannot fail,* which is an enormous privilege.
It might still *seem* scary and like a risk to make a choice where you're not guaranteed more money and success. Those feelings are still real, and it takes some guts to surmount them, sure.
But when you're insulated from real risk, you are still a very lucky person, even if you're not eating fancy meals or buying new stuff all the time.
Privilege isn't just about what a person owns or the amount of money in the bank. It's about the possibilities allowed in life—both the depths you're allowed to sink to and the heights you're allowed to achieve.
(Coda: None of my fears were realized, of course. Freelancing worked out for me, I loved moving to New York, I did not break up with my boyfriend.)
(Really the worst thing that happened was that I didn't buy expensive cheese for a few years and sometimes felt anxious about going out to eat with people who had bigger budgets.)
