Basically the idea is to get some recent work into your portfolio, and by the time you've completed the fifth React website of the year, upwork and good hourly

Basically the idea is to get some recent work into your portfolio, and by the time you've completed the fifth React website of the year, upwork and good hourly rate be damned, you'd have a much easier time to find a good paying gig. I worked my way up from $25 to $100 per hour in about a year doing this. Take up low quality gigs, and then use them as a springboard to jump onto less lower quality gigs. Rinse and repeat until you're doing the kind of gigs you'd like to do. Life is full of horrors, we can live it or stay at home. It's our choice.