Okay, it could get worse.
Studs Terkel writes in his book Working, “Work is about a search for daily meaning as well as daily bread, for recognition as well as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short, for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort of dying.” Since I’ve been trapped in the basement the last month or so, answering call after call after call, I’ve had plenty of time to really think about those words and wonder how many people ever get to experience work that meets their psychological needs as well as their financial ones. I’ve also become frighteningly aware that making money in the real world isn’t conducive to my writing. Graduation was just a few months ago, but I’m already a bit lost creatively and wondering how other writers manage to produce wonderful prose after a day of mind-numbing, repetitive work. For instance, this post is going to be really brief because I’m exhausted and can barely keep my fingers on the keys. My dreams will be filled with my voice repeating, “This is Beth. How may I help you?” I know people struggle much more than I do and still write, so I’m asking for suggestions. How do you create and generate enough income to survive? It’s not a new question, but it’s one many of us struggle with. I’ll end this brief lament with another quote about working from country singer Jamie Johnson’s song, “The High Cost of Living,” which is a good description of the 9 – 5 life: “My life was just an old routine/Every day the same damn thing/I couldn’t even tell I was alive.” I will be humming this tune in the basement tomorrow, hoping for some inspiration.
Enjoy Jamie’s video of “The High Cost of Living.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpEOmZTYA4A
