Indeed, freelancing makes me crazy. I don't think back when I got into TV decades ago I envisioned being a graying, middle-aged person without a real job. And you put it well - "out of work for the rest of your life." I have no real guarantee that anyone will call me again, ever, and each time the work stops I wonder if I'm off the edge for good this time. But I guess nowadays no one has any guarantees. Places go out of business or contract, and staff folks lose their jobs all the time.
I've given up committing to vacations of any length. A few years ago I honored a promise to family member to attend a camping trip birthday celebration in Tahoe. I was just tired of putting the people I love second all the time. As a result, I lost a bunch of work, and it ended up costing me $10,000 to sleep on the Sierra dirt for four days; that was the end of that particular social experiment. Clearly, the people I love must be placed second. But it's been worse for others I know. One fellow's mother was very sick, but he felt compelled to accept a big and lucrative gig. It had been a bad year, and he really needed the dough. He had a plane ticket to fly back east and see her, but she died before he could get to her.
Happy Sunday.
David, (the writer of the original post) are you now considering a career in plumbing instead?
Shirley
-----Original Message-----
From: Terence Curren <tcurren@aol.com>
To: Avid-L2 <Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sun, Sep 30, 2012 6:47 am
Subject: [Avid-L2] Re: Editor Wellness Tips
It's funny how many staff editors idolize the freelance life. But unless you
have the right make-up for it, it's not a lot of fun. Staff editors think it
must be great because you get those cool "breaks" between gigs. In reality, each
time you finish a gig, you are out of work for the rest of your life. So there
is a small panic that can set in and then the mad scramble to find more work.
It's not a vacation.
And speaking of vacations… want to guarantee some really good work will come
along? Plan a vacation, pay for the whole thing, and then that cherry gig will
certainly coma along for that exact time period. It's almost like clockwork. :-/
--- In Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com, "john@..." <john@...> wrote:
>
> I'm a freelancer, so a vacation is out of the equation. My last was my
honeymoon in '99... When I was a staff editor. Dodo mention that I'm typing
this on my iPhone as I head to the city for a fun filled Sunday of editing?
>
> John
>
>
>
> On Sep 30, 2012, at 2:13 AM, "Terence Curren" <tcurren@...> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > --- In Avid-L2@yahoogroups.com, Shirley Gutierrez <guanacaa@> wrote:
> >
> > <<John, exactly. I feel the same way. I don't know how those other editors
do it, the ones that go to Sicily, Switzerland, Africa, South America, and
places like that. But they do exist, those vacation-taking editors.>>
> >
> > They either have staff jobs (in very short supply) or they don't care about
work and figure they can always pick up again when they come back (no mortgage
or kids)
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
------------------------------------
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