So here’s today’s:
We all know the age old, so-called sage advice, “Don’t
quit your day job”. Too often it is
mentioned in jest, perhaps at a person’s frustrated attempts to carry a tune in
a bucket. However, all to frequently we actors, artists, and soft-scientists
alike are offered this counsel as wise and successful family and friends try to
sway us from a path littered with wanderers, broken-hearted, and penniless. One
would think a mere glance at the numbers who actually “make it” would certainly
dissuade us quitting our day jobs. But perhaps I am too naïve and optimistic.
I recently took on a day job with the hope of making a
little extra money in between acting gigs. It’s a restaurant job - how cliché,
right?! - but it’ll pay the bills for a little. However, I came home this
evening to find my inbox full of casting notices and audition appointments in
the next few weeks in addition to a posting for a job I’d be perfect for and
would absolutely love in New York. My head told me to ignore the job posting
and hang onto the stable day job I just started working a few local auditions
in here and there, but my heart, gut, and every other piece of me told me to
submit. Would it be so wrong to have options?
And so, in spite of my head, I continue to submit my
headshots, resumes, cover letters, and references for auditions and dream-job
openings alike. I am too young to squelch opportunities that arise. And so I
offer this age old, so-called sage advice, “It doesn’t hurt to try”. Options
are opportunities.
So, no, I will not be giving up my day job. Not just yet at
least. However, I’m also not about to let it get in the way of my career. I’m
living in the moment for now, taking one day, one audition, one day job shift
at a time, awaiting new opportunities to throw a shiny golden wrench in my all
too full Google calendar. Good thing there’s an “edit’ button.
