I recently heard from someone who expressed envy of my career. She said she wished she had the things I have, that all she has in life is her little girl. Her assessment of me led to some serious ruminatin’…
My fabulous career. Let’s see. I’ve made 2 records and I’m still in the hole on each. If I told you how little income I make on those projects, you’d fall off your chair. Fainting, laughing, I don’t know. Maybe both. The point is this – no matter how much I may like those recordings (or the other few hundred songs I’ve written), I’ve yet to see so much as a single dime in profit on the music front.
I’ve become a decent painter. My home is over-filled with art, some of which I actually love. I’ve been fortunate enough to have one of my paintings featured on a wine label, and a few of my pieces are in private collections. Those are all wonderful outcomes. Have I made money from painting? No. No, I have not. Still in the hole on that front, too.
There are countless other projects: cooking, home improvements, photography, life. I feel boundless love and gusto for these endeavors, but I am not so foolish as to expect income from them.
My fabulous career – thus far – has boiled down to this: I am the work in progress. And while that is a worthy pursuit, no matter how you look at it, it doesn’t pay the bills. It doesn’t even buy a new pair of shoes. It’s a choice, friends. I can do without new shoes. I cannot do without me.
So when someone decides to judge this book by her cover, they are often mistaken in their assessment. I am not what the world would call a success. I am, however, pretty danged happy. I love being alive. I love Mister. I love me. And for what it’s worth, I am loved so much in return, it ain’t even funny.
I may not be doing all the cool, crazy things my friends are doing out in the world, but I am able to sit on my couch at night – Mister by my side. I am able to eat delicious food and drink good beer and wine. I’m able to surround myself with art, a lot it of created by my own efforts. I am able to laugh and feel and marvel at life. And when I go to bed at night, I am able to count my blessings. So many, in fact, that I usually fall asleep before naming them all.
That, friends, is my fabulous career.