Today I gave my notice at work. My last day will be on January 20th. It was really hard.

See, I like the job I’ve been working for the last year and a half. It’s movies! It’s entertainment! It’s fashion! It’s fun! But it also required me to give at least 40 hours of my week to someone else. Some weeks that number was much higher. The entire month of October is a blur of 14 hour days and weekends at the office culminating in a 20+ hour day that ended with me under my desk at 4am, desperately trying to keep my shit together.

There are many people who thrive on this kind of thing. I, however, am trying to write a book. I’m trying to run a community website that’s been getting national media attention. I’m trying to live my life, and selling such a huge portion of it to someone else has been seriously getting in the way of me actually being able to do what I’m here to do.

It wasn’t a secret. I had a meeting with my boss a month and a half ago where I looked him in the eye and said, “I’m burning out. My work isn’t suffering, but I am. You know I’m working on a book, and that combined with the workload here is being a major challenge.” He sympathized, told me I was doing a great job, and encouraged me to keep at it.

But I needed to know my options. I contacted a former coworker and friend who’s an agent with Big Fish. I said, “My dream job pays this huge amount, and it only needs me 32 hours a week. And it has to be in downtown Seattle — like Pioneer Square, where I work now.” A few weeks later she came back to me with a copywriting job that pays almost double per hour that I make now. It’s a block away from my current office. And the company is willing to let me work only 4 days a week (8 hours a day), for the most part. (For the first few weeks they’ll need me full time. But my contract explicitly states 32 hour weeks beginning the second week of February.)

I will have three day weekends almost every weekend. This gives me an entire day (almost every week!) to work on my book and my other projects. And the hourly wage gives me money to save up for whatever adventure is coming next, whether that be a bathroom remodel (ug: the walls are rotting!) or a summer road trip (Shambhala, anyone?) or taking some time off when I need to.

Despite all these exciting things, it was really really hard to give my notice today. I absolutely adore the band of freaks who have been my coworkers. The only reassurance is that they’ll be right around the corner for lunch dates and things. But ug: it was hard. Harder than it should have been, given the amazing opportunity I’ve been given. More money, more time to myself, more freedom. And cool people, even. But not the same crew of cool people. And I won’t be writing about movies.

But ultimately, I can stay friends with the people while taking back the time that I need to enjoy my life. As for the entertainment writing I’ve so enjoyed? My editor at Movies.com and I are talking about me continuing to write for them — as a freelancer. Ahhhh. Freelancing. My new job will be a contract gig — by my choice. They offered permanent, but I need my life to be a little more fluid than that right now. It’s a risk to quit a permanent job for a contract one. The cautious child in my head squeaks “mortgage!” But it’s going to work out deliciously, no matter what.