A "real job"

A friend congratulated me on getting a "real job."

A real job? Haven't I been doing a real job for the better part of a decade?

No one can tell me freelancing's not a job. It's one of the hardest jobs I can imagine having. You make your own structure, your own schedule. You are ultimately responsible for ... everything.

And it's rewarding. Oh, it's rewarding as hell.

Full-time telecommute combines the best aspects of everything: the freedom of freelancing plus the security of full time. That said, it is no more real than any other way I've made a living.