It’s pretty amazing, but it seems to be the case that the “day job” dilemma of the actor is now being shared by those who simply want a job, and are finding it so difficult to find one.
Actors are always looking for “day jobs” that will feed them, clothe them, and support their artistic addictions. And we have often felt judged by society as irresponsible for refusing to look for secure, stable work.
But the regular working world has caught up with our dilemma, and is now sharing it. Anyone who has been unemployed in the last two years – or for the last two years – knows what I’m talking about. We all should know, if we don’t already, that finding “A Good Job” no longer spells security. The days of the 20-30 year career in one company – those days are gone. And yet, we continue to ride that old train – we continue to send our kids to college – but we do nothing about teaching our young men and women, and ourselves, about how to create something for ourselves that can not be taken away from us; that is ours because it is created by us, and not given to us by an employing parental figure.
We aspiring actors have had to grow entrepreneurial brains, but few of us have done so to the point of making any real money. And the security types with the 8-5 jobs who have toed the line for so long – who might have looked at us askance from time to time - are now being forced out into the uncertain air of constant change that actors have lived in forever. And all of us, actor/artist and non-actor/artist alike, are being pushed to realize that a job is not Daddy and Mommy; a job will not invest itself in protecting us; that the only safe space is ourselves, and our creative solutions and discoveries and approaches to our own lives.
I find this fascinating. That the world has so turned upside down that the actor and the “normie” (or so-called “normal” person) have become the same person. Both looking for work, both needing to find a way to look beyond work, to self-determination, and to being creative enough to build a life that provides its own security, fascination, exploration and flexibility, in a world that has already begun to change in ways so fundamental that we are required not just to be creative in our lives - but to re-create ourselves.
It’s a new day.
