This topic has been on my mind for a couple weeks and I can’t shake it. The nature of the way I am and what I write about is decidedly upbeat. Even when things look bleak, “There’s No Need to Fear, Underdog is here” to cast a word of encouragement and hope. That would be me.
To quote Humphery Bogart, a legendary actor of the past, “It ain’t never so bad that it can’t be worse.” He said that in “The African Queen…” at least the radio version.
Here in Michigan, there are lots of stories of people losing jobs, leaving the state, businesses failing and people with crushed spirits having to re-invent their lives. I have relatives who are gravely ill, and I also seem to see the end of a pet’s life once every year or two (or so it seems). But all is not lost, I promise!
There are a couple of different thoughts (and types of) endings.
People say at the end of someone’s’ life you celebrate the time they were on earth. Well, maybe so. But they’re still gone. They’re still DEAD!
But... we’re still ALIVE and far from at the end of doing what we have to do: Have fun! And what better way is there to have fun than to work on projects that are related to what we love to do for fun?
With my work, completing a project usually signifies Mission Accomplished. My work is done, now it’s time to REALLY play. In other words, one thing ends, another quickly begins, with ANOTHER PROJECT!
That is the way life is: A cycle of phases. Changes. A problem begins but it also ends one way or another. A new career begins, and the old one is already in the past, if it ever existed in the first place.
There is usually joy upon the birth of a child and sadness at the end of the “big” journey. That seems way too deep of a topic that I normally like to deal with here. Yet many people I have known and gathered some wisdom from have already completed that really “big” project.
If it weren’t for those people making the most of their “project,” I would be dumber than I am now, and so would all the people they knew.
The whole key is to enjoy the REEALLY big “project,” while it’s underway. For the most part, everything I do, I do because I WANT to. I realize there are certain things I HAVE TO DO to keep doing what I WANT to do, but there is “Room For Manipulation.”
So I began this “radio” and electronics “thing” for the same reason everyone does: It seemed fun, but none of us know how good we can be or how far it will take us. I like to take things apart and see how they are designed inside, so I am a little different than people who just like to enjoy or experience the end result.... so my journey was REALLY an interesting one (maybe strange is a better word).
"So what do you have to do to make your voice magically travel through thin air… from one place to another? And furthermore, how does one make the CONTENT of that 'magic' turn into something entertaining?"
Those are questions I had at a very young age. My parents couldn’t explain it to me, so I had to figure it out for myself....I'm still working on that one!
But that is what “The Life of Bob,” amounts to, in a capsule! I have had the best “teachers” help in the figuring-out process. I’m still figuring, and I still have the best teachers… different now than in the past, but still the best!
The chain of events that allowed radio to become reality also had a beginning. The ending has not really arrived. One of the offshoots obviously is that just about everyone has a cell phone and you can talk to them wirelessly, no matter where they are.
Radio seems almost old fashioned, but it’s not at its end either. That is as long as there are enough people around interested in CREATING quality content, and enough of us at the supporting end as well.
This returns us to the original topic. The hardest part of making a change for the better is ending one phase and starting a new one. There are some changes that happen because of circumstances. They’re out of your control, but how you handle them can impact the rest of your life.
Other desired changes happen ONLY because you make them happen. Even though you need the money, you finally quit that fast food gig to focus on what you really want to do…. or you DO have to KEEP the fast food gig, but survive on very little sleep to pursue your dream. Some people never QUITE make it, but it’s only because they gave up too soon, or they couldn’t find their “niche” (and the one they really wanted might have been a little out of their talent range. It’s pretty competitive out there, in case you hadn’t noticed!).
Radio and communications and entertainment careers in general can also be elusive.
The hardest part is finding the starting point. After you graduate from Specs Howard, however, there are people on staff dedicated to helping you find that foot-in-the-door, and once you’re in, we still like to keep track of your career progress.
Yes, there is an END to getting coffee for the people having the REAL fun, and doing all the manual labor of setting up a promotional event, but sometimes it takes a while. But always allow “Room for Manipulation.” Even if you do nothing but manual labor at your Producer or Promotions job, take those extra wedding DJ gigs on the side! If there is a weekend job that you have to drive four hours to get to, TAKE IT! Even if it means you LOSE MONEY in the process. Nobody cares about that, who is in a hiring position. The fact that you went out of your way to help them fill a shift, and did it with spirit and enthusiasm is going to only help YOU.
Don’t worry. When your time arrives to shine, you will, just by staying positive, patient and dedicated. That elusive job may just “appear” if you work at your craft long enough.
THIS WEEK IN MY LIFE...
I’m off to join the Friends Of Radio in New Jersey for their 32nd convention. The “Beginning” is Wednesday and the wrap-up of the main festivities occurs Saturday. It’s always an interesting time to see friends who knew me back in MY "Beginning."
-Bob