I know I took liberty on the quote, hopefully Arnold forgives me , but I just got back from LaidOff Camp which I like to call my version of Space Camp. Even with the rain, the bottle of DayQuil I was chugging and the lack of actual space travel, it was well worth the $10 donation and $3.00 round-trip bus ticket.
It’s was a day camp for ideas and while there were some companies there that were hiring, it was really about innovation and creating your own future. From the impromptu schedule that was put together this morning, LaidOff Camp was about finding out what you’re passionate about and finding a way to transition that in to a career. It’s something I’ve talked about before with the contract work I’ve picked up. Should I just jump in and do it myself?
I have baggage that isn’t even mine. It comes from watching my dad run his own photography business. He’s a talented guy, dad aside, but I saw the difficulties that come when you run your own company: from the months there is no work, the change from film to digital and watching the industrial belt melt away, and with it much of the commercial photography business. Thankfully my mother was a teacher with a steady paycheck and we were always ok growing up. As a kid I imagined that I too would have a steady job and paycheck. Granted I did want to be an actress, writer and teacher, and at one point a hospital however none of those jobs — except the teacher — are steady. So here I am in 2009 with no Mr. Spouse, no steady job and no steady paycheck, and yet I’m happy. Happy may be a slight over-exaggeration due to the DayQuil but I’m going with it. I’ve found that the work I’ve signed up for on a contract basis to be exciting, fun and I most enjoy the freedom it offers me.
I dont’ know if I’ll take the same path as my father. He’s done a great job at adapting to the environment having moved from commerical industrial photography to weddings. He’s always done what he loved and if anything it gives me hope that even in tough economic times there’s always hope, and maybe another LaidOff Camp where I can pretend I moved to Mars.
