Constant unemployment

For a guy who hates looking for a job, I sure did pick the wrong profession.

My friend Ryan can sit down at any moment and tell me how much money he will have at any point in his life. Part of me hates him and is very envious of his excruciatingly thorough planning of his life. Part of me couldn't stand to be in his shoes for 10 seconds. You see, Ryan is OCD and I am...well, ADD. We make quite a pair. Ryan picked a profession where he could work in a system that is very regulated and he knows what is expected of him, when he needs to go to work, when he gets a vacation. Ryan is a high school teacher. I wouldn't want his job if I was held at gunpoint. BUT...he has security. That is one thing that I dream of like eating a dark fudge sundae on a beach in Fiji.

Me?

One day, I'm looking to be wealthier than I ever imagined and the next I'm wondering how I will be able to pay any of my bills. I might wake at 4 am or 10 am. Next month I may be shooting in my hometown and riding my bike every evening or flying all over the country shooting jobs. Like most photographers, I live a life of uncertainty. Whether it be what I will be shooting, where I will be traveling, when I will get a day off, when I will get a day shooting...it's all fairly uncertain. Just when things are good and we think we can relax, just do our job for a while and not worry about hunting for the next client, another photographer is knocking on the door trying to get our jobs. Just like we did to get where we are. Pretty crazy business we are in.

But something about that uncertainty is the driving force behind many photographers. We thrive on that uncertainty. We take enormous risks, both emotional and financial, to fulfill ambitions and dreams that others can't quite understand. Is it part of the business plan? Not always. But we feed on instinct and intuition which can't be measured. It's a hunch. It's like when we make a mistake and get that result that we never expected. It puts a big grin on our face that has everyone questioning and all of the sudden we are thrust into a totally new direction of creativity. It's in our wiring to keep exploring an inner realm that is always scratching to get out. And when it happens, it's magical.

Granted, we have to market what we create and that is what puts food on the table. Even then, we are putting our souls on sale. We expose our vulnerability to the world and pray that it will be accepted. It may be accepted and it may be denied. But no matter what the outcome, the next morning we wake up and we have to figure out how to create something new, something better.

We get to look for another job.