Right Now Michael
This entrepreneur thing...
I had a great little run of work in October. The kind of month where I felt busy enough, I was getting gigs that paid well, and feeling pretty good about the quality of the work. When I get work like that, I feel goooood. A champion. Who needs a job? I'm a freelance photographer, bitches.
But then at the end of the month, money got tight. Not like, "yo! that money you got paid was TIGHT!" More like that scene on the death star where Luke Skywalker shouts: "3PO! Shut down all garbage compactors on the detention level! SHUT DOWN ALL GARBAGE COMPACTORS ON THE DETENTION LEVEL!" It made me feel stressed, and dumb for not seeing it coming. Stupid money garbage compactor.
It wasn't hard to see why the pinch happened. Summers are slow months, so by September, even though work was picking up, there were no more cheques in the mail. Also, some recent life decisions resulted in some extra expenses. And also, Right Now Michael.
See, Right Now Michael feels pretty smug about you people who...you know...PLAN your lives. RNM judges the planners who measure their goals and fret over their careers. I mean seriously, what's the point? While you're worrying about climate change and whether you'll have enough money to retire, RNM is eating a sandwich. Here's a picture: Tuesday, late morning sunlight streams through the windows, RNM reclines on the couch eating a sandwich in a white robe, peaceful as Jesus. (Before all that crucifixion business.) Hell, speaking of, even He supports RNM's life attitude. Remember when Jesus told those birds who were so busy reaping and sowing to just knock it off and chill already? Uh-huh. I'm pretty sure that's a direct translation from Aramaic.
Anyway, it was my wife who pointed RNM out to me. This one time (pretty much everyday), she asked "what do you think we should get from the grocery store for supper tonight?" I'm telling you, I struggled to answer. Damn it woman! How can I possibly think about supper when I'm not hungry RIGHT NOW?! And then she's like, well, do you think maybe Right Now Michael could have a quick chat with Michael In Four Hours?
Madness.
But seriously, this Right Now Michael bullshit has to change. I don't want to be a freelancer living from cheque to cheque. I want to have a small measure of success. Reasonable steady income. A bit extra in the bank account at the end of the month. I don't want to be rich. I just want enough. And that means I best get to making a plan.
The good news is that as a result of the financial pinch, it made me take a look at my then 19 months of freelancing. More on that next time.
Oh, website update. I got the Contact page done. So now if a person is calling about life event photos (like a wedding) or about institutional photos (like headshots), there's a way for them to either drop me an email, or they can schedule a phone call.
M
PS: The photo is a very close up view of a bee's abdomen.