Vacation Days

Lake Michigan

Being on vacation is weird. And, technically, I'm not even on vacation. I don't really have a job. I have a temporary assignment that could end at any time and then I will be back "on vacation" again.

But I've been on real vacations before. A week where you take the time off of work and go somewhere (or stay home) all while still being paid. It's a wonderful time. And I always sit there in the midst of it thinking, why don't I do this all the time?

Oh, yeah. Money.

It's funny how quickly you can forget about that piece of it. You're sitting there, doing nothing and having a blast doing it and reveling in the loveliness of not having anything to do or anyone to answer to and you think, how do I make this happen all the time?

This is why so many people waste their only dollars on lottery tickets.

I've been sick for most of my vacation this past week, yet it still beats getting up in the morning before it is light out, getting all dressed up, and sitting at a desk for 8 hours - even though I just get up and sit my desk at home for pretty much the same time. But I get to do what I want. I can stop when I want. I can pick up my guitar when the mood strikes me. I can decide to go do yoga at 11am. I can dance around my living room when a really good song comes on the iPod. I can go to any site on the internet without having to watch over my shoulder should someone be standing there while I read through some less than appropriate article on Fark.

And I still work.

I post to this blog, I update my website, I write songs, I record demos, I practice, I work on show posters, I contact venues and other artists about shows....and maybe none of this seems like real "work", but it is. It's my second job. If I don't do these things, then for sure nothing will happen with anything related to my music.

And I can easily spend 8 hours a day doing these things.

So what's the point to this rambling?

I guess it just goes back to my whole thing about finding work doing something that doesn't feel like work. So that most days feel like the one I'm having right now (well, not right now as I'm still sick and feel kind of cruddy).

So, I look to this post on Unicorns for Socialism: 7 Questions to Ask When You're Not Sure Who You're Becoming. And I can see the answers. I know what they are. And I want to make them happen.

So that everyday is a vacation day.