Imagine being stuck at the bottom of a dry well, and the only way out is for it to be filled with water so you can swim out. The well gets water every day, but only a very small amount - just enough to drink and stay alive, but not near enough to fill the well, or even make much of a puddle. Sure you could just not drink the water, but by the time the well is even halfway full, you would be dead from dehydration, or mostly dead anyway. The other option is to drink the water daily. You would be forever stuck in that well, but at least you would be alive.
This is kind of how I’ve felt for the past several months. It might not be a perfect metaphor, but it paints a picture of the situation I’ve been stuck in.
My last blog post was in August 2017 (which is even longer ago than I thought it was). I really don’t like to go that long without a blog post. Between then and now I actually started a couple blog posts, but never got around to finishing them. One of them was almost complete, but I thought it was a little too sarcastic to post. Though maybe that’s a perfect reason why I should have posted it: because its harsh, rant-like tone was an accurate display of my feelings.
The post was to be called “Fast-Forward”, because I wanted to fast-forward to the part of my life when I am working in a job I actually enjoy (and has to do with my English degree), my student loans are paid off, and I am living on my own in a clean apartment or house where I have plenty of room to organize my books and movies, and maybe even display some of my Legos. Honestly, I still want to fast-forward to that part - this part kind of sucks. This part may be important (it probably is), but it doesn’t make it any more fun.
The post I had been working on dealt mostly with the woes of job hunting - all of which are still true. Getting a job is extremely hard and requires no small amount of luck. I guess it’s just a God thing. At the moment I now have another job in addition to the museum job. This other one is also part-time, like the museum, but at least it’s a regular part-time job. I am currently in training to work behind the desk at Best Western Inns & Suites.
And how did I come to get this job? Not by any regular way I was trying, that’s for sure. People don’t get jobs by applying online. People don’t get jobs by going and talking to people in person. “Oh, you have to go online for that.” “I did.” “Oh okay, then we’ll call you.” They never do. The only real way to get a job is to know people who know people. That’s how I happened to land this hotel job.
After Shrek the Musical ended I was intent on finding a job. I mean, job-hunting is something I’ve been doing pretty much ever since I graduated Cedarville, but after Shrek the Musical I was really starting to get desperate about finding a full-time job. This is 100% going to be my focus from now on, so I definitely have no time for any more theater. But in the midst of all my seemingly pointless job-searching I kept getting calls from people in the area that wanted me to be in their plays and musicals, all of which I kept turning down so I could focus on looking for jobs. Then a couple months ago I heard that the Lindsay Community Theatre (where I did Shrek the Musical) was putting on a production of the play One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
I always thought it would be fun to be in a play again (the last real play I did was A Christmas Carol in high school). A couple different people contacted me about being in this play, and I thought about it, but decided to keep my focus on looking for a job. Then I got a call from the director asking if I would reconsider and be in the play, since they were short on guys (a common problem in theatre, it seems). I thought to myself “ugh, fine, I’ll do it. At least it won’t be as much of a time commitment as a musical, so I could still look for jobs during this…”
Ever since Big Fish (which was almost literally right after graduating from Cedarville) every play or musical I’ve been in I’ve always put in my bio for the program that I am looking for work, preferably something related to my English major. This was always in the hope that someone in the cast or in the audience would take pity on me and hire me. No one ever did - up until a couple weeks ago. Someone that I met in the cast of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest just happened to know the manager of a Best Western that was hiring. And seemingly just like that I had a job interview and now I guess the job is mine.
Though it was less of a job interview and more like the manager just meeting his future employee. I think he was going to hire me anyway. Though the job isn’t exactly related to my English degree, it’s at least something. Honestly I think I might be a little over-qualified for the job, but it’s the only one I was able to get. The job is pretty straight-forward: checking people in and out, helping customers, and answering any and all questions they might have. However, I won’t be doing too much of any of that, as it appears I will mainly be working the night shift there: 10pm to 6am. Every now and then I stay up until 2:00am (like right now), but 6:00 is kind of pushing it for me. I’ll have to re-arrange my sleeping and eating schedule. It’s not the job I had in mind when I was at Cedarville, and it’s not something I want to do for the rest of my life, but at least it’s something I can (presumably) count on for as long as I need.
Which reminds me, a couple months ago I was technically hired for a summer job working food service at Hume Lake. I was glad just to have some kind of confirmed job for the summer. But now that I’ve got this hotel job, I might have to cancel the Hume Lake job. Either way, I need to let Hume Lake know right away. I was rather looking forward to working up there - getting away from the bad air and life in general for a few months, but I suppose I will remain in the valley. Also, Hume Lake wasn’t going to offer any health insurance, something I found out I need. However, I also just found out that Best Western doesn’t give employees health benefits either, but at least I would have a steady income of some kind so I can get a cheap kind of health care. In the meantime, if you know of a place that is offering a completely full-time job that includes health benefits, don’t even ask me about it; just sign me up. And bring me back a souvenir from sugar candy mountain while you’re at it.
It still kind of frustrates me that knowing people is basically the only way to get jobs, but I am extremely grateful for it. Like I said before, I guess it’s a God thing. Had I not been a part of this play, I would not have gotten this job. It was nice getting all those requests to be in plays and musicals, but I guess God wanted me to be in this one.
Being a part of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was definitely a unique experience. Around halfway through rehearsals we lost two actors who were playing main characters. One part was taken by the former director, and the other part fell to me. I had previously been cast in the small role of a doctor in the psych ward. I was perfectly fine with having a smaller role. It meant I could spend more time job-searching - I already had all my lines memorized and everything. But then when we lost those two actors, I had to take on the much bigger role of Harding, an inmate and president of the patients’ council (the role of the doctor then went to the multitasking new director). I went from having about 30 lines to 130 lines, some of which were big paragraphs. There was some language in the play (not all of it I was entirely comfortable with) but with the new director, much of it was taken out or replaced.
We didn’t have huge audiences for the shows, which was too bad. Our last show was our biggest audience - around 50 people. That show was also one of our best ones: everything went perfectly. And by perfectly I mean that all of the scenes were in the right order. A couple of our shows had a little bit of accidental time-travel. Just a couple misplaced lines in the wrong spot and suddenly Act 1 is way shorter than it’s supposed to be. Suddenly we find ourselves having to go back and add scenes that were forgotten just for the sake of continuity. Or we find ourselves jumping ahead several pages, then having to skip that scene when we come to it. Oh the thrill of live theatre. Even if no two shows are exactly the same, the show must go on.
Behind the scenes I also had an interesting experience. During one practice I volunteered myself to help set up the lights for this play, because it meant climbing up into the roof of the theater and hanging a light from a bar 95 feet above the audience. Sounded like a fun adventure to me. While I’m climbing around in the ceiling, wearing my headset and communicating with the light guy downstairs, we start talking about the theater and how old it is. The building was originally a movie theatre a long time ago, and it was apparently built in 1929. “Wow, that’s pretty old. Hey by the way, what’s all this stuff lying around up here? Looks like pebbles, but it feels much lighter, almost like styrofoam.” “Asbestos.” About now I feel like saying one of those words the director cut out of the play. “Don’t worry, though. You’re safe as long as you don’t disturb it.” Too late for that. I guess now I better start paying attention to those commercials that say “if you or a loved one has mesothelioma…” I have to go back next week to help take that light back down. Maybe I’ll wear a mask this time.
Later this year, the Lindsay theatre is doing Into the Woods, a musical I’ve always wanted to be a part of. I would love to play either the Baker or one of the two princes. I just hope that I would be able to work it out with whatever schedule I might have at the hotel.
It can be pretty interesting down at the bottom of this well. I’m still stuck down here at the moment, but thanks to this hotel thing maybe I have a little more of a chance of escape. It still might be a while, however, before I publish a blog post called “Un-stuck”. In the meantime, I ask for prayer for every aspect of my life. I have dreams, but I want them to be reality. I just wish sometimes I could fast-forward my life to the good part already. But if you are praying for me, one thing I need prayer for is to not compare myself to others. This is a huge problem I struggle with, and only seems to make my well deeper. I need to remember that other people’s successes are not my failures. I also need to remember that my goals for success should not be just to one-up the people to whom I am comparing myself. As much it may seem, it’s not a competition, and I desperately need prayer to remember that. Also pray that I would be able to pay off my student loans quickly so that I can finally start to pursue my dreams. Don’t know what my dreams are? Ask me about it sometime. And finally, I need prayer that I would trust and follow God’s plan for my life, even if it takes me to places I’m unsure about, like hotels and museums. No matter how He does it, ask that God would fill my well.
P.S. Look for an entirely different type of blog post in the next few weeks here (this one I actually plan on finishing): a review of the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe leading up to the release of Avengers: Infinity War.
