At last count I have had 36 jobs. Not counting all the different assignments I might get from a temp agency. Let’s call it 36 paycheck issuers.

My passion has always been music. But I discovered early on that I didn’t want to do it as a career. I was a freshman in the music education program at University of Bridgeport and towards the end of that year I realized that having to put the work and study into music sapped some of the magic for me. I wanted to play. So I knew I wanted to play in bands and do music that way.

This was not new. I had always had a lack of discipline. My first instrument was cello, which I took in the fourth grade. My mother made me practice before dinner and I would lug the huge instrument up to my room. I would have a whack at the lessons but soon it would devolve into an exploration of the sonic possibilities of the cello. This would mostly be making eerie sounds through the harmonic series.

There was a grate in the floor of the bedroom which led down to the dining room. I’m sure my mother could hear what I was doing. I can’t remember if she reprimanded me. Either way, I am still struggling to develop the self discipline to practice. But I get enough of it done so that I am an above average guitarist. But I have always regretted not developing the skills and knowledge required for cello.

So in service of my music passion, and my play passion, I have always had Lazy Girl Jobs. These are jobs that are flexible enough to allow me to do gigs and rehearsals at night and even run off on tour from time to time. I have always had enough money to afford an apartment with roommates, coffee, lunch out, and the ability to go out and see bands. And get a T Pass. I never needed a whole lot and my friends were generally in the same boat. We all graduated from Marlboro College with degrees in the humanities and always knew we weren’t going to get rich.

That wasn’t what we wanted. We wanted life. We wanted to enjoy this burgeoning city we found ourselves in and be able to get on a Trailways back to Vermont every so often. And that simplicity has served us well. Tami generally concurs on this so we are simpatico.

Now, being retired, it’s not jobs anymore but hobbies and experiences. And I need to keep trying to find the separation from commitment which was such a facet of my lazy girl jobs.