Dream Job? Really? Let's Re-name It!

To Work, Perhaps To Dream

I think the idea of having a dream job is very romantic. I also believe that it is unrealistic to think that a person could be doing something they love until they die and not get at least a little sick of it after a while. I'm not saying that it's silly to imagine oneself in a 'dream job' because that wouldn't be any fun. What I am pointing out, however, is that even the dreamiest of jobs must be re-examined every so often and one must continually re-invent themselves if they are to thrive at their coveted position.

By the way, I am an optimist. But, I'm also a realist and very rational when it comes to life decisions. So, when contemplating what a dream job really is, I dare to describe the current notion as somewhat antiquated.

Let me explain – if a person wants to become a film maker, they will daydream about how wonderful it would be to be gainfully employed as such. They may even get so fired up about it that they'll take drastic steps and quit their job, leave their spouse and sell their house so they can move to Hollywood and start a fresh, new, satisfying career. People will say: “Way to go! I wish you the best of luck.” Luck, schmuck! (more to come on so-called 'luck')

But, what is film making? Is it writing, producing, directing, editing, acting, lighting, sound, what? Will the person be simply involved in the film making process? And how about the union situation and funding and actually creating something rather than simply be hired to direct a project? Then there are the odd, long hours, possibly starting as a production assistant (the 'lowly PA' as it were) and waiting for the next gig while working part time as a bartender/wait staff/driver, etc? There is a lot to consider.

The Dream Plan - from Concept to Implementation

I'm all for people following their dreams, but I often hear people talk about such things without a solid action plan behind them. The solid action plan would include a great deal of research to discover what exactly it is that a person is getting themselves into, in order to get there, and may include some undesirable situations. It is true that Eddy Murphy burned all of his bridges and made it as a comic so he wouldn't have anything to fall back on (I read that in a magazine somewhere). That is a very romantic story and it looks good on paper, but there had to be struggles along the way and who knows how much mental stress he went through? But more importantly, who knows how detailed his plan was? It wasn't mentioned in the article.

If a person wants to start a small business, grow it and maybe sell it after a few years, they must know that they are responsible for feasibility studies, market research, legal issues and all that kind of stuff. Then, they'll probably have to be their own accountant and garbage person for a while until they can justify the expenses of hiring others. Then, they will have to deal with staffing issues if someone doesn't show up one day or quits on them without warning.

I met a guy once who had a mild hit single and got burned by the music industry, so he sold all of his gear and anything that reminded him of the music industry. In fact, I bought the gear after he sold it. He didn't even want to bother with consignment, he took a loss and got rid of it for whatever cash he could get. I wanted the gear with the hopes of starting a small project recording studio. After a few years, the gear wore out and I left it behind in an apartment building I lived in and it was 'up for grabs'. I had changed my mind.

All Starry-eyed!

When I was 17, my mom and I flew to a new resort off the mainland of Venezuela. When our plane arrived, there was a plane-load of people cheering as we went toward the customs line-up. How nice, I thought. The tropical paradise I was about to discover would be one of those life-changing vacations coveted by others who weren't as lucky as me. Fast forward two weeks – our plane was delayed for half a day because of a mysterious 'snow storm' in Toronto, which never happened. They gave us cheese sandwiches on white bread with no butter for "dinner". They flew us to the mainland to clean the plane over night and we had to sleep in the airport. The plane was re-scheduled to depart early the next morning. We finally understood why the people were cheering – they were happy to finally have a plane to go home in.

The plane flew through a storm and I'm certain it was the most turbulent flight I have ever experienced (and one of my first commercial flights). We got back to Toronto, which had dropped quite a bit in temperature and by the time we got back home to Ottawa.......well, I was a wreck, anyway. It sounded like it might be fun and overall, it was. I would not give up going on trips, but I am now much better prepared for any trip I take.

Take a Closer Look

Suffice it to say that ANY 'dream situation' will have it's ugly little details and the more one knows about their dream job and the better one understands the details, the more mentally prepared one will be when deciding to embark on a new career path. I am all for following a dream, that's what life is all about for me. I am happily doing what I choose to do for a living and have been doing so for over a decade. But, I understand that the 'dream job' is an ever-evolving process and must be re-evaluated periodically to avoid getting stale. It's more of a dream 'path'.
I must also admit that getting on the tracks was not without a handful of failures and constant re-evaluations of what it was I was trying to achieve – which trained me to learn all about 'focus'. It was and is still an uphill battle, but I wouldn't change my path for anything because it's my battle and I will win (and I'm a lot further up the hill than when I began the dream).

Inspiring Dream

A short story to interject before I conclude: "I had a dream one night where I was being bullied by a large, mean biker-type guy and he wanted to fight me at a specific time. I was a pretty scared because he was so mean and he was bigger than me and his leather jacket had some serious, scary logo on the back. Some time before the fight, I ran into Lance Henrickson (the movie star). Lance was getting ready to go on a hiking trek and I asked him for advice before he left. He told me he was in a hurry, but then he stopped talking led me to a basement apartment door in a nearby market.

He knocked on the door and the big, mean guy answered. Lance asked the guy if we could start the fight sooner rather than later and the guy responded by calmly telling Lance that he had to help his girlfriend get groceries then do some housework and that maybe later he could show up for the fight. That was not the same guy I was afraid of. In fact, I saw him as a regular guy with a regular lifestyle who made sure not to put a silly fight ahead of his girlfriend. Suddenly, I wasn't afraid anymore. I mean, how could this tame guy beat me up?

We walked away from the door and I told Lance I didn't fear the guy anymore. Lance kept looking straight ahead as he walked and, without eye contact, he calmly said: “I know. We ruined the mystique.” Then, Lance walked away as I stopped in my tracks."

Focus and Re-focus

Some of the fallout from me being a live sound mixer and AV specialist includes me not listening to music much anymore and noticing every mistake made in the production of movies and TV shows. I love music and movies! But I have partially ruined the mystique. I still enjoy writing songs and performing on stage and I would probably never stop making films and videos, but I see it all differently now and my priorities have changed. The young man dreaming of making movies and playing stages has not changed much, but has been better educated about his choices and the stars in his eyes have been replaced by lasers.

Know what you're getting into; follow your dream, but don't live in a fantasy world.

Peace!