Artwork by Jason Kotecki
My Real Memoir
I only had myself to blame. I’d had a great-paying job, and quit. But, hey, I had a degree in Theatre Arts, so I was a catch for any company, right? Yeah, right. Well, at least gas, pumped by a guy in a spiffy Texaco star-cap, was only 25¢ a gallon. Plus, with my customer reward points, I’d just acquired a shiny new toaster! Which was great, since pretty soon toast would be all I could afford to eat. And yet my mood was as shiny as that toaster. Why?
Because I was free (ish). I simply couldn’t handle working full-time for anyone other than myself. I was, although I still didn’t fully realize it, pretty much wired to be a creative entrepreneur, and nothing else. Part-time work-work was OK (ish), though, as long as it gave me to time to bake my pies in the sky.
So I got a part-time job going door-to-door offering people free photo studio portraits. The kind where the free shot is the one of your kid grimacing like a constipated chimp, and the drop-dead-adorable one is available for a special package price. Almost everyone smelled fish. Although one lady threw open her door and posed for me, wearing absolutely nothing, squealed, “Ta-da!” and then, shrewdly discerning that I was not her husband, slammed the door in my face and screamed at me for “tricking” her.
Meanwhile, since I was no longer in “the next Beatles,” I decided I’d be “the next Beatles producer,” i.e. discover and produce a hit music group. My band had been called The Daily Planet, and the band I discovered was named for the planet Pluto. So it was obviously written in the stars.
Pluto was a bar band that did note-for-note covers of other people’s hits, nothing remotely original. But they were great musicians. So I decided to show them what they could do by re-inventing their worst number, that tired old standard “Kansas City.” After three hours of my guzzling coffee and throwing “what ifs” at them, it became their best number, a wildly original rock thrill-ride!
I was too buzzed to sleep, so I grabbed my ten-speed and circumnavigated the entire state of California before going to bed.
The next day, Pluto called and thanked me for showing them they had what it took to be a great band! “You just wait!” I replied. “But,” they continued, “we’re all married and have kids, so we don’t have time to be great. We were just hoping you could get us better-paying bar gigs.” Music was no longer their passion; it was simply their living. Like my dad—but unlike me—they had the reality gene. I’d quit my job and (as Joseph Campbell famously advised) was “following my bliss.” But it turned out my landlord didn’t accept bliss as legal tender.
So I moved back home with Momandad. Mom understood. Dad didn’t. Like a manly bouquet of Marlboro-scented roses, he’d handed me a real-life career, and I’d tossed it in the dirt. Nevertheless, I already had a new sky-pie in the oven and, Dad’s groans notwithstanding,
I was broke but happy.
My Real Memoir is a series. To read the next one, click here.
I can’t help but applaud your realization that you were destined for creative entrepreneurship and your wholehearted pursuit of that destiny. There are a lot of us (this guy included) who probably had a similar revelation early on and yet sadly let the “reality gene” overwhelm it. Continued blessings on ALL your creative adventures!
Thanks, Russell! Although it’s taken me a lifetime to realize (“so that’s why I kept failing at ‘real jobs'”). And ADHD figured heavily in the mix as well.
It took courage to quit a good-paying full time job back then when they were hard to come by. You apparently knew what was in your heart-and it wasn’t that. 🙂
Very kind of you to say, Nancy.
Burst out laughing at the lady in what god gave her. You have had an interesting life.
Thanks, Susanne.
Broke but happy is a good thing. Flush and happy wouldn’t hear any complaints on my end. It’s scary to leave something secure. It takes courage. You’re blessed with it!
Thanks, J!
Sounds like “the life” 😂
Great story! We do have to be who we are born to be.
So it would seem. Thanks, Peggy!
A poor but happy preschool teacher, here. I feel sorry for the wealthy and unhappy people.
I agree, Jennie. “Better a dry morsel in quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.” ~Proverbs 17:1
Exactly! Thank you, Mitch.
I love the message. It’s so important to acknowledge that. Quality over quantity is a necessity. I was in a similar situation where I was making the most money I’ve made ever with a job that was less than ideal. Quitting and not looking back was one of the best decisions I’ve made yet. Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure, and good to meet you, AJ!
🙏
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