How do I handle the fear of irregular income going solo?

The fear is honest, and it is pointing at real things. Income that jumps around, taxes you handle yourself, no safety net handed to you. These are not imaginary problems. But notice that fear is treating them as one giant wall, when they are really a handful of solvable pieces. People manage this every day, and they are not smarter than you. They just built a cushion, learned the tax basics, and arranged their own benefits one at a time. What feels like a cliff from the outside is a set of steps once you are on it. You do not have to leap. Before deciding anything, do one small thing: figure out how many months of expenses you would want saved to feel safe, and name that number. A fear with a number attached is something you can actually work toward, instead of just dread.