Where I’m Cherished    

Then, it felt impossible for my lungs to swallow a full breath of air.

I couldn’t shake the feeling and couldn’t pinpoint what triggered this sudden sensation that could only be described as a panic attack.

I reviewed my day, desperately wanting to make sense of this seemingly arbitrary occurrence. The only thing I could isolate was a difficult client who emailed to say he was no longer interested in my graphic design services.

When I first read the email, I’d been relieved. This was a client who a different artist had referred on. The client told me it hadn’t been a “match”; later I found out my friend was the fifth (!) graphic artist he’d researched, interviewed, hired, and fired for this particular project.