Work and Overwork

I work. A lot. It may not seem like it because I work from home, but I work about 80 hours a week, between working at the law firm, dating website, auditioning, acting business meetings, filming and various other gigs. As a self-employed freelancer (most of those jobs I'm considered an independent contractor), I am also responsible for my own taxes, retirement and healthcare. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by everything because there is JUST SO MUCH!!!

Yesterday while on my way to an audition, between answering law firm emails, a promo company I work with called me in to book me for two gigs in the next few weeks. For those of you who are unfamiliar, promo work is something many actors do as an easy support job: you go in for a few hours to some event, talk with some people and they pay you at the end of it. So far all of my promo work has been for kid events; I go in for 2-3 hours and talk with kids and get paid. It's a great, easy gig and I'm happy I get the opportunity to work. Except I'll be doing that on top of filming my new show (!), working full time at both companies (!!!) and auditioning (!!!).

I was feeling pretty stressed when I talked to a friend of mine who told me to pray. Just sit down and pray. Within seconds I was just so overwhelmed by thankfulness for the opportunities that I get. To have not only one legitimate work-from-home job, but two, plus the flexibility to leave for a few hours to do my acting is great. My income is finally bigger than the average entry-level college graduate - and my time is all my own.

More than anything, it confirms that I am indeed on the right path God has set for me. Though unconventional, God has provided abundantly and looking back, it's so clear that I am doing much better now than I would have been if I took a regular corporate entry-level job. The world told me time and time again that it wasn't the smartest path, but I took the path I believe God intended for me.

With a renewed mindset, I welcome the crazy month of April with all of its challenges and craziness. I pray for additional opportunities if God chooses to provide and I am reminded of this verse:

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

Booked!

So remember all of those projects I had talked about in my last post?

I booked the teen talk show pilot! I got the call a couple days ago that they want to hire me. I won't film until the beginning of April but hopefully it'll get picked up and I'll go in once a week to talk and discuss my opinions on things.

Monday I have an audition for Sony, which I'm hoping I book, but it's specifically for "attractive, Abercrombie model types", which means I'll be at a major disadvantage (especially height and body type wise). Not that there is anything wrong with what I look like; I just know I cater to a different, more "real people" or "teen" market and not "runway model".

Overall things are starting to look up and I'm excited. I'll keep everyone posted.

:)

Updates

Somehow, before I knew it, it's been nearly a month since I've updated this blog. I'm so sorry to the few friends that follow my blog.

Things have been slow and I've fallen into this nice routine, which is why I haven't been updating it. Not much has been happening; it's been a steady routine of work, eat, church, acting class, repeat. The industry has been pretty slow for me since January, so I'm really hoping it picks up soon.

This week I had an audition for an American Idol commercial. I auditioned for this exact same spot last year with Cat actually and it was rather memorable, though not for good reasons. Last week I had a Dell commercial, which I felt pretty good about and was rather surprised when I didn't book the job. Oh well...that's the industry.

Tomorrow I have a print audition for Ray Ban (the sunglasses) while my roommate has an audition for "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant". Our audition locations are only a street away so we're going to carpool and cheer each other on.

Then Saturday I have an audition for a hosting position for a teen talk show and Monday my roomie has an audition for a reality tv show (I know!) so it seems like auditions are finally picking back up again and I'm pretty excited.

I think that's about it. It's been wonderful out here and though I stay extremely busy with work ALL THE TIME I'm really enjoying it. I still look forward to the day I can just do acting and only acting.

And what have you been up to????

xoxo