Ask HN: What's it like to be a designer? Would you recommend it as a career?

I've been interested in startups for a long time, and have taken a few of my ideas through the planning stages, but it's becoming clear to me now that just conceiving a startup and mocking it up does not bode well for my financial situation / will most likely end in starvation. I really enjoy the design process, and I'm starting to wonder whether I would enjoy working as a designer (HTML+CSS+graphics). I'm interested in finding out whether there are any freelance or agency designers here who could tell me about the "trials and tribulations." I've read some horror stories about the low pay and thankless clients, but I'm searching for some firsthand accounts of the daily-designer-life.