August 21, 2007

• Almost Done

  I have been in a pretty constant working state for a very long time. I'm somewhat of a work-a-holic, and with our finances being pretty tight the past year and a half since moving to LA, I have always taken pretty much any side job for arranging/orchestration, etc...that I could get whenever they would came across my path--including that huge project for Concordia University last Spring (my largest job to date).

  Several months ago a friend contracted me to do some arranging for his choir. I gladly agreed, but a couple of other projects were in line ahead of his, and his work required a little more creativity and gave more freedom than I'm used to, so I procrastinated (not a normal habit). And I procrastinated. And I worked on it a little bit, and I got frustrated and procrastinated some more. Family events came up--I mean, it's summer! And I really didn't want to do it, and my home office was stinking hot and unbearable to work in--so I procrastinated some more. But I reaped the brunt of all of my procrastination with some really tight deadlines in the past couple of weeks, and now I'm just tired. I'm tired of trudging through work I don't want to do. I want to build healthy sleeping and exercising habits, and not have my life fueled by coffee alone. I did it for a few weeks (while procrastinating) and it was amazing. So I'm done (almost). I have a little more writing to do tonight, and then I'm not going to take any more jobs that aren't school related OR directly related to the commercial industry (where I'd like to work more often).

  See...here's the thing. These jobs, although providing much needed income during the right times in my life, weren't necessarily leading to other better jobs. They were leading to more work from the same customer, but I haven't really been progressing in my work the way I'd like to.

  And--praise God--since we have started worshiping at Midway again, we haven't been living on the edge financially. Now I will actually be able to go home and mow the lawn without being stressed about my next project. I'll be able to go home and have dinner with my family without hurrying through to get to work. I'll be able to enjoy High School Musical 2 with Nathaniel (as he jumps up and down on the couch singing along with great energy and excitement) instead of telling them to watch it without me while I finish up a few things. I'll be able to go to sleep early enough to get up early to exercise and get ready for the day. I'll be able to hang out with my close friends and not feel guilty to playing a few minutes of video games or going out to dinner to hang out.
  It's going to be great.

  Because, really...who wants to just work their whole life?

  Balance.
  I've gotta find it again...I had it for a second...and then...gone...

  Go see Stardust. It's amazing.

  • 3:17 pm
  • 12 Comments