It was the first nice day in So-Cal the whole week during the first winter that felt like winter to me in several years. I'm sitting at home, feeling a little restless after finishing up some boring paperwork and boring phone calls, so I decide to get some fresh air and burn up some of this excess energy I had.
I grab a light jacket and a bottle of water and head for a hiking trail not too far from where I live. This trail kicked my butt last time and that was when I actually finished it. The first time I tried it, I don't think I made it even half way up the mountain before I called it quits and turned back around.
Anyway, I figured this would be the perfect trail for me that day. I'd go up maybe a quarter of it, get tired, come back down, and head home for a hard earned hot cocoa. Mission accomplished.
But the quarter mark came and went and I still had energy to burn. So I kept going. The half-way mark came and went, and yet I still kept going.
A couple hours and five uphill miles later, I found myself at the top of the Verdugos. It was a clear day and I could see downtown and even all the way to the ocean. The sun had just started its Western descent and bathed the whole town below me in a glow of golden light.
Normally, this trail is a popular one on the weekend. But today was a weekday that I had off and I was alone on top of the mountain. As I sat there, basking in the solitude and my victory, I was grateful to not be working full time.
It's one of those contradictions. Everyone wants to be full time on a show and collect a steady paycheck, but once you're on a show, all you want is a day off.
I've been very fortunate to have found myself with full time spots on one show after another, especially since it wasn't that long ago that I was wondering if I'd ever be good enough to be considered as "full time" material. But after almost two full years of non-stop shows, all back to back, I think I'm due for a break.
I want to have a day off in the middle of the week every once in a while. I want to have the freedom to run an errand without battling the weekend crowds. I want to be able to visit a museum where I can get up close to the exhibits without getting in the way of someone's selfie. I want to be able to go downtown without having to pay the ridiculous up charge for Saturday parking. I want to spend some time only working 48 hours a week instead of 65+.
I want to be able to sit on top of a damn mountain and watch the sun set with no one around but me and my thoughts.
It's here that I realized how much I missed the life of a day player.
2 comments :
One of the best things about this business is having an occasional weekday off. Weekends are hell in LA -- too many people all trying to go to the same places and do the same things. The only way to make weekends bearable is by working full time on a show, when you're so tired by Fraturday morning that all you want to do is sleep right through the weekend 'til Monday. That's one of several reasons I finally gave up on the single-cam world and went into multi-cam sitcoms, which paid a lot less on a weekly basis, but are so much less abusive and time-consuming. At that point -- on the verge of turning 50 -- I was willing to trade money for time and infinitely more humane working hours. You can always find a way to make more money, but there's no way to make more time.
But you're still young, so make that money while you can... and enjoy those precious weekdays off.
Michael - I'm looking for a way to make more money AND more time. ;)
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