At least some of you have probably noticed that I haven’t posted anything new for a very, very long time. The reason is that I got a job . . . but not a “good job.” As you may recall, I define a “good job” as fulfilling three criteria: provides the basics of survival, allows the possibility of retirement at some point, and relates to music. [1] Well . . . one out three isn’t bad? Or maybe it is; I now have an adjunct teaching position. The pay would not keep Dumbo in peanuts[2], there are no benefits, and it eats my entire life. But it’s a college teaching job, in MUSIC! Hooray. . . ish.
My dilemma is one of fables. Specifically, is the operative fable here “a bird in the hand . . .” or “monkey with its hand in a jar”? Should I cling tightly to my actual teaching job (attractive, since I absolutely LOVE teaching), hoping to use it to somehow gain a better (possibly even survivable) position eventually? Or do I accept that it is preventing me from doing, well, anything, let go, and step into the great unknown?
I’m getting the impression that I’m the monkey in this fable.
[1] from my very first post: http://www.consultingcomposer.
[2] assuming Dumbo eats only peanuts (about 2000 calories per pound), eats about 30,000 calories a day (African elephants eat about 70,000, Dumbo looks maybe a quarter that size, but flying animals tend to eat more), and I got wholesale prices on peanuts (about $1.30 per pound) this is literally true.