20230810 Deep Space Realm Lord's Weekly Journal Chapter.43

Hey everyone! It's time for our weekly journal update!

Playing the electric guitar is incredibly fun!!!! I had my first lesson this week, covering some basic music theory and fingering. My teacher assigned me spider exercises for homework, but it's seriously so hard! Basically, you have to place your fingers on the fretboard and press down on the strings fret by fret, playing to a metronome. My hands are pretty small, so reaching the lower strings on higher frets is super tough. Still, after practicing, I can feel myself getting the hang of it!!! Plus, I absolutely love the sound of my guitar when I strum <3<3<3

I actually feel a bit guilty because I haven't been practicing my singing nearly as much as my guitar lately LMAO. I really hope to release an electric guitar cover someday, though I feel like learning music theory might drive me crazy first (?) Even so, acquiring new knowledge step by step is really fascinating, and that lightbulb moment when everything clicks is so rewarding!

I'm curious how many of my Little Cottons take on freelance commissions? I mentioned before that for financial reasons—and to have more to talk about with you all—I was thinking about finding a stable, salaried job instead of doing freelance work. Lately, though, I've realized it's really hard to give up commissions completely; it would feel like such a shame to just drop it. I toyed with the idea of juggling a full-time job, freelance work, and streaming all at once, but realistically, that sounds exhausting... I probably wouldn't be able to balance it all. So, choosing either freelance work or a steady job to pair with streaming is definitely the more manageable route for me.

But freelancing has its struggles, too. On one hand, I want my clients to be perfectly happy with both the price and the quality of my work. On the other hand, I constantly worry whether there's a huge gap between what I charge and the final product—both from the client's perspective and my own. It also makes me a bit embarrassed when I look back at my older work and what I charged for it now that my skills have improved haha. I know that's just how freelance life goes, but I really want to find that sweet spot where pricing, quality, and time investment are perfectly balanced.

Anyway, that's what's been going on with Mian lately! If you're dealing with any life or work struggles of your own, feel free to vent in the discussion section—I'll be reading them all!

I've been reading quite a few novels this week, but it looks like none of them are finished yet, so I won't drop any titles for now. Once I finish a completed one, I'll definitely share it with you guys!

That wraps up this week's journal. See you next week~

Here are this week's new stream highlights~