It is really lashing down right now. The perfect opportunity to feel glum. And maybe write an entry into my blog. It’s been a month. I’ve been busy with school just getting out (ie: not used to having kids all up in my craw). And of course my client work is mounting now that I have time to spend with said kids. Blogging tends to fall to the end of the priority list. Trying to be funny gets hard when you’re all jammed up.
This is the life of working from your guest bedroom/home office: My little Bode just got home from the doctor’s office. They stuck him with 4 needles full of vaccines. It’s was pretty brutal. So I’m sitting with him watching Curious George and hoping he nods off from exhuastion after the trauma. And there are a million things I need to be doing. First and foremost, I should be making revisions on a scissor catalog right now. But instead, I’m sharing with you. Because (don’t tell my client) scissors aren’t all that exciting. And writing a blog is fun.
I think rainy days and vaccines go hand in hand with low priorities. A sunny bright beach day just wouldn’t have been fitting. We’re glum. The sky is glum. And it’s a good excuse to just sit and be gloomy. Because, like I said, we’ve been pretty busy around here. Oh, and because scissors aren’t very exciting.
When you have the time and motivation to be busy, the clients ignore you like the plague. So you spend time writing blogs, and cleaning your house, and keeping busy with busy work. Then, when you are busy with something that actually pays the bills, or your child is home sick, the clients magically sense this and demand all your attention. And when you tell a client that you are a stay-at-home mom, and work strange hours, they are so totally understanding. But it’s a trap! It’s a lie! The time to make scissors exciting is RIGHT NOW!
I’ll compare it to a real estate listing. “Cozy” means it’s 100 square feet. “Needs TLC” means that it will require lots of, not only loving care, but money for renovations. “Convenient to public transportation” means that the train tracks are so close that your house shakes like a washing machine in the spin cycle.
But freelance clients use this same type of lingo. “We’re completely understanding to your schedule” means that they like to start calling you right at 2:30 after they’ve had their morning meetings, their 2nd cup of coffee and then took time for lunch …just as your child is stepping off the bus. “We’re looking to create a relationship with a freelancer” means that they beat the living daylights out of their previous freelancer who left on "bad terms" (ie: no files for you to refer to) and now you are their latest victim. “We’re on a tight schedule” means that the project has sat on their desk for the last month and now their boss is all over them about it and so you need to pick up the slack and make it fabulous in 3 hours. “Cutting technology in scissors!” means….well, you get the picture.
I have a few lines of my own. “I didn't call you back because I've had meetings all day” actually means that I did a few errands in the morning and then went to the beach. “This is great feedback” sometimes really means that they have given great feedback, but lots of times means I wanted to strangle them after reading their comments. “I worked late last night on this so that I could get it done for you” on occasion, means that I watched 30 Rock while having a beer and popcorn before I remembered that I had to get it done so I crammed for a hour and then emailed it off hoping they’d recognize the late night time stamp.
So today, I should be freelancing. But it’s raining. And I’m not feelin’ it. And a wise man once said. If you don’t feel like working, don’t go to work, because people pick up on your bad vibe. Wise Man’s got a ton of money and only goes to work when he wants to. I don’t have a ton of money….but I’m a creative, and I can only work when I’m feeling "it". Which is what a lot of starving artists say. Which is why I don’t have a lot of money.
It takes a lot of creativity to make scissors (and blogs) exciting. Which is why, some days, rain and vaccines are good. Good for just blatantly ignoring work because you and your kid are glum. And honestly, 4 vaccines was all the excitement we could handle today. But I told my editor that I stayed up late after all my client meetings to get this done. Bad vibe? What bad vibe?
