A couple of weeks ago, someone on Facebook asked me what my occupation was. And I have been kicking the question since then.
If you go by the idea of making a decent wage, I don't have a profession. Then again, even when I was working for someone else, I was not making a decent wage. And there is that whole, when was the last time I answered to a boss (which would actually be yesterday, if you consider a client to be a boss).
For those who care, my job history goes as follows: Apprentice to my father's business---construction at one point, produce sales and delivery at another point; burger flipping jobs (twenty years worth--ten as a restaurant manager); went to college and earned bachelor degrees in history and literature (some master level classes taken and passed); couple of years as a newspaper writer; astrology columnist; freelance Tarot reader; and though all my adult life (from the time I was 19), off and on, I have been a dubious erotica writer.
Currently, it is really hard to pin down a profession. I am basically doing odd jobs with several small income streams. So at the moment, I am a sorcerer, part-time accountant, pagan minister, esoteric teacher, blogger, occult writer, humor writer, astrologer, artist, erotica writer (hey, the income counts), science fiction and fantasy writer, and photographer. By themselves, none of these are currently a full time profession---I am bouncing from project to project as whim and client needs dictate. But each one of these categories is bringing in a little bit of money, so if you go by the rule of "if you are making money at it, you are a professional", then I am all of these things. If you go by the idea that an occupation is a forty hour workweek doing something, then I am none of these things.
So what the hell is my occupation? Be damned if I know. Creative odd-jobber? Freelance bum? Unemployed lunatic? I have no clue.
If you have any creative ways to describe my current profession, feel free to leave a comment.
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1 comment:
I finally settled on "Author and Esotericist" for the tagline on my author site. It's two titles, granted, but together it sounds like they cover most of what you're doing.
Of course, for a living I develop software, so that would be my "real" job title if you're talking 40-hour-a-week stuff. Because as you note, being an "Author and Esotericist" doesn't pay the bills on its own.
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