Back in September, when I left my cushy 9-5, I knew the next job I wanted was something I would be in for the long haul. I do not like switching from job to job. Plus, you always enter on the bottom rung. I wanted to search for a job that I would enjoy, I could get measurably better at over time, and I would find fulfilling.
Of course, that’s a tall order and it has taken me a while to find some direction.
I started by looking at various things I was good at and then evaluating if I thought I could make money doing it. This, for some reason, tended to favor making physical objects. Many of these things were great as a hobby, but I didn’t have the drive for it over time.
Something else that was an obvious possibility was singing. I have years of training – over 2 decades now – and it is something I can objectively say that I am good at. What I am not good at is “the world” that comes with singing. I’m not highly social. I do not tolerate pretentious people or deadbeat hipsters well. And I am not highly competitive. I like doing what I do in my own little world, sharing it with others, and hoping they might enjoy it.
Then the model of the internet musician came to the forefront of my awareness. Mostly, I had fallen in love with Jonathan Coulton. He writes geeky songs, often with much deeper overall themes, and the internet made him famous. Not in a “Pants on the Ground” kind of way, but in a “I perform a varied repertoire regularly in concerts” kind of way.
This presented me with a new model. Something that would allow me control at the beginning, as I am learning more about writing, recording, and publishing. Something that would allow me to explore without being pressured to do it the way that seemed so unappealing to me.
And thus begins my current venture. I am definitely a singer, and am seeing if I have the chops to be a songwriter.
In Part 2, I will discuss the hesitance I have at telling people what I do for a living.
The Renaissance Woman 