I think it depends on what your expectations are as well as what you are willing to put into learning them. Both Clojurescript and Elm have their place.
Elm is very nice but definitely has a learning curve. You can try Elm in a low impact way by making a small component with it and using it alongside either React or Angular ( or in other scenarios as well ). It can also work as a state management solution for parts of your front end app. On the other hand building an entire SPA in Elm is a monumental task and requires significant investment. As the Elm experts say Elm is not really a good solution for quick one offs or prototyping. It may require you to reinvent the wheel for many widgets for which you could find relatively high quality open source options in React or Angular. Also, Elms JS interop is a bit tedious at times but works relatively well.
Clojurescript has been around longer then Elm and for most has less of a learning curve, but for some the JVM tooling may be a turn off. Nonetheless it is fun to use and there are several Clojurescript UI libraries (Rum, Reagent, Om, Hoplon/Javelin) all of which are used in production at various places.
I would say for an experienced javascript developer there is something to gain by delving into either Elm or Clojurescript and though both are very different the strong functional emphasis of both imparts habits of code organization and thinking that you might not develop as easily by staying in pure Javascript territory.
Having built Wordpress CMS systems in a variety of scenarios I find it an incredibly frustrating piece of technology. For common framework expectations / patterns in 2016 it feels at least 5-10 years behind. It's difficult to migrate, have multiple environments, deploy, and so much more. In almost every respect I find alternatives such as Craft CMS (php/yii) or Wagtail (Python/Django) vastly superior and much easier to customize. The only reason I find it continues its momentum is that it has word of mouth for managers, mindshare with editors / content managers who know the admin ui well and expect more of the same, and it has a very large plugin/theme ecosystem for people who want to get started very quickly. The problem, especially with some of these themes is that they are almost impossible to extend and maintain and they are very bloated. I find that lately I either choose a flat file CMS for a client (Kirby, Grav) or if its a very simple site I use either Squarespace or Webflow and for other cases I choose Craft CMS, Wagtail or others which need a database backend.
I studied Lavoisier's Elements of Chemistry in a great books program and it truly deserved its place. We traced the development of chemistry from the classical period up to the development of the periodic table, performing experiments along the way. Having such a view of chemistry allowed us to see just how revolutionary Lavoisier's classification system truly was and how it allowed chemistry to really make progress after that.
I hope it’s a sign that more designers / front-end people are adopting good development practices! CSS is already a nightmare to maintain so using source control can only be a good thing.
I am curious how you went from freelancing to working at a firm. I also got into development from a liberal arts background ( I went to a “great books” school ). I started out several years ago, first with a brief internship, and then freelancing with a friend who a more experienced developer, and now I am freelancing solo. I have several sites and apps under my belt but I feel like an impostor and totally unqualified when I look at the requirements for various job listings (Junior/Intermediate JS/Python/PHP)