I can't even tell you how many times I've done this. It's almost 3 AM now. Been scrolling through Behance and Dribbble for... hours? Since midnight, easy. Just looking at other designers' portfolios. The ones with the big clients – Nike, Apple, all that jazz. Or the super artsy ones who get paid to make weird, beautiful things that I could never even dream of. They have teams, probably. Benefits. Actual vacations. Me? I'm here, staring at a blank InDesign file for a dental clinic brochure that needs to be done by *tomorrow* and all I can think about is how much better everyone else is. It’s not even jealousy, really. More like… a dull ache. A low-grade guilt. Like, why am I not them? What did I miss? Did I make the wrong choices? This gig economy thing was supposed to be freedom, right? *Be your own boss! Flexible hours!* Ha. It’s just working all the damn time, chasing invoices, and living with this constant hum of "am I good enough?" And seeing these flawless portfolios, these perfectly curated case studies… it just reinforces that hum into a SCREAM. Like, my work is fine. It pays the rent. Mostly. But it's not *that*. Not even close. And now the sun is gonna be up soon. Another night shot to hell. Another day where I’ll be dragging, relying on cold brew and the sheer terror of missing a deadline. That’s the real kicker. I know I need sleep. I know this is dumb. But I can't stop. It’s like I'm punishing myself. Or maybe I'm just looking for a reason to feel bad, because feeling bad is easier than actually doing the work sometimes. Idk. Just… another day, I guess. Another dollar. Maybe.