Mind of Migg

Well, you don’t have to be your job, if you don’t want to. A few months back, I was speaking to a friend who had recently been laid off. Here’s how the conversation went down:

Him: “So how’s it going?”

All I need - headset, coffee, and a reminder that the job could be much worse.

Me: “Well, I have a job.”

Aaaaand, cringe. Only I didn’t mean it to be rude. It was a sigh of resignation because I had recently returned to a “day job”. The way I meant it was that things weren’t going so hot for the stuff I truly had a passion for. It was one of those moments where I wished I could hit “undo” on the words coming out of my mouth. (side note: my friend is brilliant and has since found a job that is not only better than his previous one, but he found the time to do some amazing writing work and come up with a great concept for a new feature during his time between jobs.)

Being a creative person who needs a day job to make ends meet is tough. Too often, we are labeled by the positions we have. We allow it to define us. But that’s not fair. I can still call myself a writer, even if the only time I’m writing is when I stay up late, get up early, and spend weekend afternoons struggling to get in writing time because I have to work 40 hours a week in a completely unrelated field.

Many times I would doubt myself. I’d hesitate to refer to myself as a filmmaker or a writer because I didn’t feel I had “made it” yet. That is backwards thinking. You don’t need an external measure to decide who you are and what you do. I write, so I’m a writer. I make films, I’m a filmmaker. I recruit financial advisors (which I do well and don’t mind), so I’m also a recruiter. And that’s not the end of the world.

Even if the job you have is your dream job, you eat, sleep, and dream it through other actions. If all I did was write and make movies, eventually I’d run out of things to share. My life would be confined to such a limited scope. I’ve realized that trying to fit work into every waking hour is counterproductive to my goals. So I travel. I play sports when I can. I cook. I read (scripts and books). I try things outside of my comfort zone because when I look back, I almost always tell myself, “yeah, that was worth it.” Even when it’s not worth it, the experience gained becomes hindsight for later stories to tell.

People are more than the work they do. Having a mundane job, an exciting job, or not having a job at all doesn’t determine personal success and satisfaction. There’s a lot more to it than that. Experience. Share. Cringe. Have fun.

This guy knows how to engage.

One of the great things about an iPhone (besides all the awesome apps) is that when you have one, you can always look busy.  Or at least give the appearance of being busy.  Ok, it really doesn’t fool anyone, but when you’re the one standing alone in a corner because you’re incredibly shy it helps give peace of mind.

I used to think this shyness was only the result of preferring the written word to the verbal one, but then I realized I even do it online.  I hesitate to comment on blog posts I read, I retweet people I admire, but don’t make an effort to speak to them directly, and I even keep my blog in it’s own quiet corner.  I don’t promote it, I don’t talk about it, and I’ve just quietly written personal notes here and there without really letting anyone know.

That all is going to change.  I’ve redesigned this site to be a little more organized and speak to an audience.  I really don’t expect the audience to grow beyond its two regular readers on its own either.  That will be the biggest difference.  Too often it’s easy to become passive in life, thinking a break will happen on it’s own.  I forget that things are only going to happen if I actively create my own big breaks.

One of the most important and inspiring things I took away from the (DIY)stribution and Marketing Symposium at the LA Film Festival a few weeks ago was the need to engage – engage an audience, engage other filmmakers, engage anyone who will listen.  It started with Ted Hope’s talk and became a word used several times over the course of the weekend.  It really resonated with me.

So this new launch of my website is the beginning of my attempts to engage.  I’ve got cool categories on my main page, mostly focused on film and writing.  I’ll still throw in the occasional post about the Phoenix Suns or what I’m doing over the weekend, but they won’t even necessarily pop up on the homepage.  I saved some of my favorite posts from the last two years, although I apologize to anyone who’s commented, because I couldn’t save those when I moved to WordPress.

It’s not going to be the little blog in the corner anymore.  I’m going to be more active in engaging in real life and that will give me more experiences that I won’t hesitate to share.  I will make an effort to engage with like-minded people, not just through writing this blog, but through as many outlets as I can find the time for.  No more hiding behind a phone, absentmindedly checking my email every minute.  Nope, I’m going put the phone away…and then continue standing in the corner, but slightly closer to the crowd.  One step at a time.