Music, Poetry, Fiction and my Creative Freedom
Wow, it's been a while since I've posted here. I hope this finds everyone who reads this well. I haven't been writing here, because I haven't had a chance to sit down and write anything. For the past couple years I've been working a part-time job. Calling it "part-time," is sort of comical.
My plan was to get extra income while concentrating on my art. After one of my most prestigious professional writing clients dragged their feet to pay me, I realized that I needed another source of income. I hated the idea of all my income coming from either professional or literary projects. Editing opportunities had slowed down and my creativity was getting crushed. So, I picked up a part-time job. The reality is, without the support of an agency to follow up with clients, freelancing as a writer is a gamble.
I wanted to concentrate on just writing books. Having a side gig would allow me to do that. Well, initially it did. Soon enough, I found myself working on weekends. Then I realized that I often have been working 30+ hours a week. I basically have an unstable full-time job with no safety net. No insurance. No paid vacations. No benefits. Technically, I can pay into those programs, but that's all sorts of stupid.
It also doesn't help that the company I work for is currently downsizing. At least when I started, there was a carrot dangled in front of me-- the opportunity for a solid, full-time position if I performed well. That no longer exists. My bills are getting paid, but I've lost my creative freedom in a lot of ways. For what? A job that could disappear in an instant.
Yeah, it's time that I find something full-time. If my creative freedom is being taken away from me, I need to be properly compensated. So, I'm looking. If anyone has any leads, let me know.
That said, in the past couple years I haven't completely stopped being creative. In 2024, I started releasing music projects. Some songs were a few years old, others were written weeks before posting them. I had the opportunity to collab with multi-Juno nominated record producer (and big homey) Rise Ashen on a project (My first ever song with label support). I also released an EP and multiple singles. All of which can be found on my Spotify page. I have plans to release a couple more singles and an album in 2025 as well.
On the literary side, I have a Middle Grade manuscript that I haven't properly pitched to publishers. I think I may have mentioned in past blog posts that I was working on it, but now it's finished. Poetry wise, I do have an idea for what might be my final book of poetry for the foreseeable future. But writing it will take time. Unfortunately, it's not a priority right now.
If anything, as my creativity is becoming more of a hobby, music is becoming more important. It's almost impossible to break out in the current music scene. I would love to have a few hundred listeners to my music. Maybe, even have a few thousand supporters that would make touring at a small scale a legitimate option. I think that's a reasonable goal that I can aim for.
To do that, first, I need a stable, work life. Promoting music costs money. Also, by the end of 2025, there's a strong possibility that I no longer live in Toronto. If I'm commuting into the city for work, it has to be for a full-time position.
As a human, and as a creative, I am in the midst of a huge period of transition. I guess my hiatus from this blog was to allow everything to settle down. It hasn't. It's already been a couple years. So, here I am, with hopes that my next blog post positively expresses progress on my journey.
Take care
