In the five years that I’ve had a full time 8-4 job, part of my brain has melted away. When I was freelance for the prior fifteen years or so, I constantly had MAKE SOME MONEY thoughts rolling around in the back of my head. I had to or I wouldn’t have eaten.
Now that I get a check every Thursday, those brain cells are dead. I know money is coming is in and even though it’s not enough to pay my bills, really, that false sense of security envelopes me in a nice warm cocoon of stupid so I don’t have to have income ideas percolating. Now I think about all sorts of stuff - art projects, things I can write, film ideas - but making money isn’t a constant.
If ever there was a reason to not have a job, this is it.
It really does lull you into the self sustaining myth that having a job solves some problems. In my case, it’s caused more problems than it solved if I stop to think about it. I’ve gotten further in debt because my false security said taking on more debt would work out okay since I have a job. It’s cost me income. It’s hurt my brain.
So I’m having to kickstart my brain and literally force myself to try and get the freelance attitude back, even though I’m still at my day job right now. I try to trick myself into thinking that no more paychecks are coming When I have an idea that could generate income, I jump on it and try to take some action on it right away to create a little momentum for myself.
What do you do to keep your brain generating income producing ideas for you?
So far, my holiday vacation from work has been nice and productive. I’ve been getting a lot done and the holidays were nice and almost stress free. Lauren got very sick a few days before Christmas but is fine.
I’ve been neglecting the blog here but part of that I’m so busy other places. If you visit my lifestream page, you’ll see that I am regularly on a bunch of social media sites. Frankly, I get a lot more readers elsewhere. When I write on The Huffington Post, Bob Cesca’s blog, or even Twitter is seen by more eyeballs.
I’m hoping to start to change that and so there will be some more changes to the blog here in the next few weeks. I’m expecting some exciting times ahead.
Here’s a piece I worked on for my friend Ben Relles at Barely Political. I edited, gathered all the photos and did the animation. It features the awesome Hillary impersonator Rosemary Watson, too.
Obama names Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education. He’s considered a reformer but gets mixed marks from a lot of parents in Chicago. This isn’t really a surprise for a reformer, though. He’s worked to reduce handgun violence in schools and promoted a gay-friendly charter school, which has the wingnuts frothing at the mouth.
I did a little research but couldn’t find any info on Duncan’s position on a special area of interest of mine and something that puts me at odds with some other progressives on occasion; homeschooling.
My wife and I homeschool. You may have a picture of homeschooling where the kids are reading the Bible all day long or maybe sitting in neat rows and studying The Classics and practicing for a spelling bee.
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