It’s Never Too Late…

…to realize that you might be good in a number of areas but need help with others.    I’ve been a freelancer—whether or not I would have admitted to this in the past—since June 1997 when I chucked the corporate life and went out on my own.  Creatively, I’ve done quite well for myself:  I’m rhythmically gifted and discovered the joy of hand drumming and performing;  I love to sing and tell stories; I continue to teach via drumming classes and workshops for educators; I perform a one-woman show that I authored; and I’ve pursued acting in television and film—a dream I have held onto since I was ten.

However, it’s been a rocky ride, financially.  Yes, I will admit to this.  As my husband now realizes, I am just not cut for the life of a 9 to 5er.  Nope.  And while the life of a freelance creative educator comes with freedom and vision, it does not provide a regularity of income.  I know I can attract abundance—I’ve  done it in the past.  But how to manage this abundance when I’m in a temporary lean period so that I’m not looking to eat my arm for sustenance (figuratively speaking!)?  

Perhaps I need to learn how to treat what I do more as a business?  Would that help organize those aspects of personal financial management I seem to lack?  It’s like I don’t know what I don’t know, and this not knowing is getting in the way of my enjoying more the time I have here in this life experience.

Maybe it is not too late to learn how to better manage the business facets of my acting career and Trencher Educational Consulting (dba “The Percussion Lady” and “Golda Meir: Choices & Chances”).  Maybe I can learn enough to know that I need to hire a professional to cover some of these aspects.  

Suggestions?

Juggling

I’ve been back from PA for over a week now, and it’s been a constant, ongoing, intense juggling act—taking care of all the nonhumans while my husband was away, house maintenance, Helen maintenance.  This is in addition to keeping up with my freelance work (percussion and acting gigs), marketing of same, prepping for new gigs (I love exercising the old noggin!), and paperwork.  Constant paperwork—confirmations, invoicing, collections. 

On the horizon for next week and beyond:  resuming the creation of a website specific to my commercial and educational writing endeavors; submitting for commercial/educational writing gigs; submitting for acting gigs; resuming taiko drumming classes; and researching how to use email marketing and my Facebook performer/educator page (shameless plug:  https://www.facebook.com/HelenTrencherCreativeEducator; “like” it if you wish) to grow my client/fan base.

…And, I wouldn’t have it any other way!

So Close!

Sometimes I’m so close I can taste it…So close to experiencing the abundance of money and creative output I start to envision a life wherein I begin to relax about it all. Before the holidays I had applied to work as a contract educator for a new (to Denver) two-year college that mixes online learning with real-time experiential education.  Their mission really affected me, and it was the first time in a very long while I became excited over the possibility of aligning with another entity.

But it is not meant to be—as least not yet.  I’m on the short list for possible work in the fall, once enrollment numbers are more readily apparent.

The positive take-away from all this, I guess, is that the Universe does know what type of work I truly seek—work that is creative, meaningful and abundant on so many levels.  So after a few days of mentally gnashing over all this, it is time to put this experience aside and be present to future possibilities…and to focus on what I’m doing right now:  working on my first education writing freelance gig (!), prepping for a BIG marketing event for Friday, a celebration of my experience in the docudrama, CREEP!, tomorrow evening…and then on Saturday start nine days in Philly on my first working visit out East, helping my sister with our elderly parents and three Percussion Lady gigs.

Busy.  Good!

Namaste.

A Question of Balance

Leverage

From http://www.merriam-webster.com:

1 the action of a lever (an inducing or compelling force) or the mechanical advantage gained by it

2 power, effectiveness

From http://www.thefreedictionary.com: Positional advantage; power to act effectively

As a freelancer, I must balance my time between immediate funds and future financial abundance.  Until I reach the point of a steady flow monetarily, sometimes that is so challenging.  These past 2.5 weeks since the start of the year have been quite the mix of making excellent contacts for future possibilities and spending my time at a temporary job to pay immediate bills. 

I spent approximately 15 hours a week for the first two weeks of this year providing customer service and sales support at the Denver University bookstore as they began their winter term.  As far as a retail job goes, it was pleasant and easy enough.  But it was hours on my feet with unhappy hips for nominal pay (as compared to what I charge for a Percussion Lady event).  And the opportunity costs for spending my time in that way was that I was not able to focus as much on developing my writing website and marketing for percussion, performing and acting gigs.

Was my time leveraged optimally?  Not really.  Yet, as I stood for hours straightening books I did have the time to ponder...  So, in addition to the two immediate bills I was able to pay, the ultimate benefit I gained from this experience is a renewed zeal for aligning with what I truly want.

The Week Between

Yep, it’s that time of year.  The piles of filing, organizing and shredding have gotten a bit much.  And my file drawers are busting.  I must prune and purge my office!  For a creative with left brained organizing tendencies, this does not necessarily funnel down to filing.  So, during the relatively quiet week between Christmas and New Years, I do my own version of “spring” cleaning.  

Not only do I get to root out the unnecessary form or file, I have this wonderful opportunity to reflect and to plan.  Despite the monetary shortfall (which I am most heartily efforting to remedy), 2012 has been a busy year with performance and creativity!  The stats:  in 2012, I —

• presented Golda Meir: Choices & Chances 11 times;
• lead rhythm/drumming events at nursing homes and memory care units an average of 10 times per month;
• facilitated 10 rhythm-based educator workshops;
• presented 16 specialty percussion lady performances; and
• landed three paid acting gigs—one of which was the role of Corey Alden on the feature length docudrama, CREEP!, coming out sometime in 2013. 

It’s been a blessed year, and now I need to create the space—both physically and mentally—for an even more focused and abundant 2013!