As a person who considers himself to be a good
musician, I know how difficult it is to have to work a menial, dead-end
day job, while knowing that I had other talents that were not being
used. Talents that I felt had exceeded the requirements of the type of
jobs I had been working.
Although I believe that a truly wise man
as well as a good manager or supervisor sees the potential of an
individual, In our society, people often base their opinions of someone
else upon what they are currently doing for a living and not what their
potential is. I don't think people realize how common it is that people
with exceptional abilities are often forced to work a job that is,
quite frankly, beneath their talents, experience and knowledge.
I
will give you some examples of the types of jobs some musicians I've
known have had to work to pay their bills. I'll use fictitious names
like "Joe Guitar", "Joe Drummer" and etc. to avoid embarrassing them.
So without any further stalling, let's get to it:
Joe guitar
worked at a slaughterhouse that cut up dead cows and horses that were
dragged off of fields and the meat was used for dog food. Sometimes a
cow might be lying in a field for a day or two before they called his
company to have it removed. So they would sometimes be bloated and
would make a hissing sound when joe would go to skin it. I'll spare you
the more grisly details.
Joe Drummer worked for a disaster
restoration company that would deal with water, mold, fire and smoke
damage. The worst would be sewer or septic backups. Sometimes an entire
basement would be filled with sewage that had backed up through a
toilet in the basement. He would have to drain out the septic sludge
and cut out the sludge drenched carpeting and bag it up to haul outside
and load into the truck.
Joe the keyboard player worked at a
powder coatings factory. They made the powder coatings that is sprayed
on metal and baked on. It is much more durable than paint, by the way.
The factory workers would usually take on the color of the powder
coatings that were being made each day. If they were making blue,
they'd all be blue and smurf-like in appearance. If it was yellow, then
they would all look jaundiced.
Joe the singer worked at a factory
that manufactured vinyl wall covering. There was always the strong
overpowering stench of the inks and various solvents that permeated the
place. God only knows how many years that cut off Joe's life. But don't
worry; it just cuts the years off of the end of his life. Those are
usually the worst years anyway.
I could list a number of other
jobs some musicians I've known have had to work but I won't bother to
list them all due to the fact that this article might go on for ever. I
just wanted to present the case that if you are among the ranks of
musicians forced to work a job you hate, you are not alone.
It
can be difficult sometimes when you know for sure that you are capable
of doing more. Yet the real opportunities for you to show what you are
capable of seem to never arise. Quite often, for most people, they
don't. You see, the real opportunities don't come to you. The real
opportunities are the ones that you pursue.
So maybe you've also
had to work that horrible day job to pay the bills while waiting for
opportunity to come knocking on your door. Let's face it though;
opportunity doesn't even know where you live. You have to find his
address and knock on his door.
I knew I was capable of doing more
than what I was doing for a living. You know that you are capable of
doing more. So go out and do it! Find the time. Make the time. Show the
world what you're made of. Show them all how wrong they are about you.
You might even surprise yourself.