Part-time rant!

Ack, I know I’m not alone in the cash flow problems of working in the performing arts. Even after so many years in the industry I’m still working on ‘nipping this in the butt’. I’ve worked, honed and polished my skills and talents, but struggle to get the business side of things.

The latest thing is for me to really sort out the ‘cash flow’ problem. I’m no longer relying on family or partner. So I’m hunting for that ‘part-time’ job. The term makes me shake in my boots, as I’ve been here before. I never wanted to go back to this, but the current economic climate means I need to make some money some way to keep the performing career going. Actually I’m so suited to such an economic climate, as I’ve been living this way my whole performing life, so what’s the big deal!

So what can I do differently this time, so I don’t have the same experiences as before? I ask myself, again! What I’ve come up with so far is as follows:

- Temping, restaurant, teaching or what?

The one I’m going for is ‘what’. As I’ve tried most of the above and either don’t feel its right for me or just don’t like it – life’s too short! The perfect job would be part-time, flexible, and pays well – hm – am I asking too much? Teaching does offer this, but to be frank, I’m really tired of people who just don’t turn up or expect to learn all there is to know about singing in one lesson.

I was talking to my friend, about this cash flow problem; he has an accounting back ground, and said to him, “I’ve applied to work for the Christmas Postal sorting. It would be a short-term contract, but I wasn’t sure if they only offered full time hours” (I’ve since found out part-time is fine). His reaction was, why can’t I do full time? Boy the amount of times I’ve run into this one, does no one out there truly understand that working in the arts is a full time job! Even when ya work from home! What’s up with the world, I’m not a lazy bum sitting at home; in fact, I tend to be a work-a-holic. It’s got me into trouble many times, as it’s not wise to work ‘the other’ job full time and do the artistic career without running out of steam at some point. It’s a clear reminder to me that if someone close to me can’t see that I’m not able to do it all, then how is the potential ‘part-time’ job going to be sympathetic? Ho, Hum.

Oh the woes, still I’m hopeful to earn some money making sure those Christmas cards find you safe and warm at home.

If there’s anyone out there whose mastered this balance or has ideas of that ‘perfect part-time, well paid, and flexible’ job, I’d love to hear from ya!

Dx