A Huge Weight Lifted Off My Shoulders
Here’s rare reminder at New Escapologist that a [part-time] day job might be the solution, not the problem. This would be if the thing you seek to escape is an untenable freelance environment or some sort of runaway self-image.
Yes, we talk here an awful lot about escaping day jobs because day jobs seem to be the #1 source of misery in the world and the one that most people secretly want to escape. But Escapology is flexible. You can escape into a jay-oh-bee if that’s what the circumstances call for.
Here’s a blogger called Megan:
At the time I saw having to get a day job as a sort of defeat. My dumbass mid-to-late twenties self thought that having a day job meant you hadn’t truly “made it” as an artist, and although I haven’t really thought that in a long time, that critical voice will still come up sometimes.
But music work had been slow for awhile. So I figured I’d just get a part-time job to have some stable income until the industry was in a better place, and I’d work my butt off in the meantime to try to get as much freelance work as I could.
Something interesting happened almost instantly, though. As soon as I started at the day job, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Having an income was no longer dependent on me going to networking events or making social media posts! All I had to do was show up and do my work, and I’d get a paycheck every two weeks for around the same amount of money!
By getting over herself and taking the part-time day job, Megan was able to be more selective about the freelance work she accepted. She was able to start enjoying music composition again (her creative career), was less likely to accept bad gigs just for the money, and didn’t have to hustle so much.
I think the key is trying to build your life in a way that will bring you the most joy and least misery, regardless of what people say you “should” be doing. In a perfect world, I would be one of those lucky composers who makes a decent salary solely working on really cool indie projects. (Well, actually, in a perfect world there would be no money or bills, but let’s not get into that whole thing). But the world is not perfect, so I need to do what I can to build my life in a way that works for me.
Cool.
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About Robert Wringham
Robert Wringham is the editor of New Escapologist. He also writes books and articles. Read more at wringham.co.uk