The Day Job

So ... today my temp agency sent me to a Sports Complex where I spent 6 hours in the sun handing out soccer ball hacky sacks to greedy children at a soccer tournament. I came home completely exhausted, swollen and sunburned and as I sat in from of my moldy window AC unit, I thought, "Yup. This is what two degrees in Theatre gets ya."

I know that day jobs are a necessary evil for actors. But they can be tedious and soul-sucking and often leave you too drained of energy to pursue what you really want to pursue. The other alternative is unemployment and while I have no problem with my actor friends being on it, I can't yet bring myself to do it. There are myriad reasons, but this is not a blog about my fiscal or political beliefs. You don't give a shit about that. I barely do myself.

But I watch some of my friends discover exciting and fulfilling side jobs that often turn into second careers for them. I have friends who are teachers, writers, photographers, massage therapists and yoga instructors and I envy them so much. I wish that I had some non-theatre related skills. I mean, I do have skills, but alphabetizing and answering phones makes me want to stab my eyes out and the other skills would get me arrested if I offered them in exchange for money.

I envy them because they have found something that brings them just as much joy as performing and they can build their lives and support themselves on all of these passions.

My friend, Martha, is a gorgeous and talented women in her 60s who is by far one of the best actresses I have ever worked with or seen onstage. She has built a fantastic life as an actress, yoga instructor, teacher, wife and mother and is an all-around fantastic human being. We had a conversation about this subject one day and she said, "Allison, I still have friends from college who say, 'Martha, we always thought you were the one who was going to make it, be famous', and they think that because I found something else (yoga), I didn't stay hungry enough for acting and that's why I didn't 'make it'." Well, she's made it in my opinion, so those assholes can go fuck themselves, but that's beside the point.

Maybe I haven't found that something else because I'm not meant to. At least not yet. My tummy and ass are pretty big so I'm obviously hungry for something (like that little profile pic over there, it's usually cake.) Maybe I really do have the hunger to keep on keepin' on despite the occasional sunburned shoulders.

Daily Activity for My Career: Continuing to read Acting on Film (does that count?)