Showing posts with label mom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mom. Show all posts
Saturday, December 13, 2008
I Want to Bang on the Drum All Day
The kids are home and happy and running and loud. Trying to write while making hot chocolate and oatmeal and finding matching socks to get one child out the door. Repeated calls from my husband who is store-hopping about sizes and colors. Mom just called. Ma'am just emailed: What time am I coming tomorrow? Do I like asparagus? Have two magazines in production (one shipping Tuesday) and two freelance deadlines this week and Christmas caroling at 1 p.m. with the girl scouts. Grad school final paper on Ulysses is due Wednesday, and the washing machine buzzer just went off. Happy Saturday!
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
In Defense of Workaholics
You gotta love Jay Leno.
The man's got fame and fortune, and after saying goodbye to The Tonight Show next year, he'll be doing a one hour, nightly show on NBC, according to news reports.
The man apparently loves to work. Even now, he's off doing stand-up gigs on days when he's not taping his show.
My mom, too, loves to work. Earning money and participating in the economic machine. Being relevant in the workforce. Being a role model to her kids and grandkids.
"You're just like her," my husband said to me yesterday. "You like to be busy."
True that. And for me, the best is working toward a goal -- publishing a book, getting your master's, starting a business (perhaps an online magazine for home workers?), learning a new craft or skill -- while you're busy doing your day job.
But not everyone likes to go that extra mile -- especially if there's only a slim possibility of a payoff.
I have a neighbor, a closet writer, who asked me for advice once about how to get published. She was working as an assistant teacher, but had been told that she has what it takes to be a professional writer, which was her dream. I read some of her stuff, and it was good! Excited, I talked with her at length about pitching magazines, scouring the internet for literary agents who might be interested in her pieces, writing query letters, how to follow-up, etc. She looked at me quizzically afterward and said, "I don't want to have to do all that..."
Is it any surprise that after 7 years she's still unhappy and teaching?
I have a special place in my heart for "hustlers": People who love to work and work and work, whether it's to follow a dream, make boatloads of money, or just for the thrill or challenge of it.
You rock, Jay Leno!
The man's got fame and fortune, and after saying goodbye to The Tonight Show next year, he'll be doing a one hour, nightly show on NBC, according to news reports.
The man apparently loves to work. Even now, he's off doing stand-up gigs on days when he's not taping his show.
My mom, too, loves to work. Earning money and participating in the economic machine. Being relevant in the workforce. Being a role model to her kids and grandkids.
"You're just like her," my husband said to me yesterday. "You like to be busy."
True that. And for me, the best is working toward a goal -- publishing a book, getting your master's, starting a business (perhaps an online magazine for home workers?), learning a new craft or skill -- while you're busy doing your day job.
But not everyone likes to go that extra mile -- especially if there's only a slim possibility of a payoff.
I have a neighbor, a closet writer, who asked me for advice once about how to get published. She was working as an assistant teacher, but had been told that she has what it takes to be a professional writer, which was her dream. I read some of her stuff, and it was good! Excited, I talked with her at length about pitching magazines, scouring the internet for literary agents who might be interested in her pieces, writing query letters, how to follow-up, etc. She looked at me quizzically afterward and said, "I don't want to have to do all that..."
Is it any surprise that after 7 years she's still unhappy and teaching?
I have a special place in my heart for "hustlers": People who love to work and work and work, whether it's to follow a dream, make boatloads of money, or just for the thrill or challenge of it.
You rock, Jay Leno!
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