Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada
…Or do I???
I’ve been remarkably lucky during the 28 years that I’ve been performing. When I started I didn’t need to make ‘a living’ out of it but somehow over the course of time and by default it became my career. Opportunities lead to other opportunities and I’ve been happy to follow one thing after another for nearly three decades now. I think to some degree I’ve had a seductive amount of success with what I do. I love performing, I love the work that goes into the getting of jobs etc and the revenue that this circular cycle (promote – book – perform – promote – book – perform) has allowed me to live a very comfortable existence and provide a happy life for myself, my wife and my kids. It does become a bit of a repetitious cycle though.
I had an email earlier this week from a performer who wanted to ask me a few questions. As her email stated…
I am planning on starting a solo performing company, and am now doing some market research. I was wondering if you would like to help me by answering a few brief questions.
Like I know what I’m talking about – Ha! So I called and we talked for about thirty minutes or so and she asked me a number of different questions related to the style of performing that she’s doing and how best to make a career out of it. I’m not sure I gave her the information that she was looking for, but it was a useful conversation for me because it got me thinking about how I’ve built my career.
Earlier this week I also got together with my good friend David Duchemin for lunch and our conversation wandered all over the map as it often does. One of the things that came up was that although I’ve had great success as a performer, success has been more a result of being busy chasing opportunities as opposed to making a plan, setting myself goals and setting out to achieve them a skill that I recognize in him.
I’m reminded of watching my kids play soccer. When they were very young the entire team ran after the ball in one big throbbing mass of excitement and enthusiasm. As they’ve grown into the game, they (and their team mates) have recognized the benefits of playing position and having a clear plan of attack when it comes to putting the ball in the net. When I relate this image to my own career I think I’m still at the stage of being that mass of excitement and enthusiasm with out necessarily the clarity of playing position and having a plan of attack.
I was impressed by some of the speakers at the Creative Mix Conference a week ago today because many of them had created definable parameters by which they channel their creativity and creative output. Amazing! Stop chasing your tail and actual construct the roadmap that allows for you not only to channel your energy but realize amazing success. Who’da thunk?
Now in some regards I think we all set about the pursuit of ‘success’ in different ways – just because I seem to have followed a less charted course doesn’t mean that my success is any less valid, but I scratch my head sometimes and wonder if perhaps I might have achieved a different kind of success had I sat down early on and plotted a more coherent direction…
I think many performers who turn to the street as their venue of choice do so because they don’t want to follow a specific set of guidelines or procedures. I totally get this, but as much as I love the street as a venue and the freedom it provides, I also recognize for myself that a bit of structure can be a very good thing so today I’m meeting with the guy who co-ordinated the Creative Mix Conference for a lunch and a bit of a brain storming session with a bit of Career Management as the general topic that I’m looking to throw at him…
I’m not sure if this will lead to self-directed career management or some sort of career coaching, training or just what, but it feels like it might be time to look at alternative courses and approaches to getting the most out of this thing that I’ve had such success doing. Onward and upward!
(giving credit where credit is due – I got the image that accompanies this post here)
