Freelance List

Recently, I've been talking to a freelancer friend who has been called upon to have a hand in a great many things at once. While I can see that such a situation might be overwhelming, I can't help but be jealous sometimes that, because of being a far better networker than I or just far more talented than I, she is in demand, it appears, almost constantly. She is wanted, perhaps even at places she doesn't want. She is needed by people at a variety of levels. She receives confirmation of her abilities from many directions.
 
Now, as a freelancer myself, I know that periods of relative success can frequently be followed by periods of utter darkness. Yet, when I look at my friend (or, for that matter, many friends who have made a reasonable career of freelancing), I come back to that question of what it is that makes you the freelancer that people call. How many gigs do you need to have done to be considered a "go-to"? How many people's contacts must you be a part of in order to receive continuous requests? Must you appear available to be desirable, or are you, in fact, more desirable when you're unavailable?
 
I suspect that I will still be trying to figure out the work game long after I've stopped working (does anyone really stop working anyhow?). In the meantime, I won't stop wanting to be wanted, and needing to be needed. No matter how hard we work, I guess that's just how it goes. And maybe one day, when my working and networking stars align, you'll find me on the top of--or at least somewhere on--every list.