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Nine To Five
This is the first in a series of articles appearing in a new publication on the Haven website later this fall. Each article features the insight, advice, and storytelling of Haven artists.
This week: improv comedian and aspiring t-shirt designer Cory Cavin doesn't let the man get him down (most of the time, anyway).
 Recently, I wrote a friend in an email, "Until I can get paid to snowboard and sit in hot tubs, I don't think I'll be satisfied with any job." Since that day I've been scanning Craigslist and I haven't found any of those jobs yet. I'm assuming they're just out of season at this point. I'll pick up my search next spring.
For now, job satisfaction is my nemesis in this city, mainly because it remains both cryptic and elusive. I moved to New York with a nice chunk of savings and a few freelance clients back home-my plan was to survive off the mixture of capital and work. However, New York is an expensive place, and soon my wallet was stripped like a poor unassuming teen model in an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog.
So I trudged out like any other young artist seeking to pay the bills and made my way to the temp agency. In all honesty I found excitement in this new venture. I have always wanted to live in New York City and have had this Wall Street fantasy of getting up early, putting on a suit, and riding the train, packed in with all my fellow suit-clad, work-hungry companions on our way to grab the world by the tail. Smells of strong morning coffee, the leather on my wingtips, and the tantalizing aroma of fast paced, high-powered success all danced in my inner senses. Oh, to join the hustle and the bustle!!
This fantasy quickly faded in the middle of the Microsoft Excel proficiency test at the temp agency. It was just a fantasy, and I would like to receive money for doing something within my field, from something that gives me life. And Bill Gates, you're a smart man, but Microsoft Office suite is not particularly life giving. At least, not to me.
Still, I have spent time in the trenches of The Man, filing his papers, tweaking his spreadsheets, and drinking lots and lots of his free bottom-of-the-barrel break room coffee. Out of rebellion, of course. And then I got the caffeine shakes, and he won again. This experience has proven difficult, for as much as I wish I could be the 'crazy' office guy that's a loveable loose cannon and is chasing the world with his art outside of the office, this environment depresses me. And depression is not funny. So then people respond with, "Oh - you perform? Wow you're so quiet around the office . . . and you're shaking. How much coffee have you had?"
It's been helpful to have things going on outside of work. I think it's easy to get tied down in a job that is meant to pay the bills and never get to pursue your particular art. I set ultimatums for myself- I will not buy any more ties for this job wardrobe. I have my 5 -that's it. If office style is important to you, I suggest different ultimatums, such as staying away from the coffee.
Persistence is important, and whatever you're trying to build here, it's key to remember that these things come with time. And in that time, you need a few things that Maslow reminded us of in his hierarchy of needs- namely food and shelter. And Maslow isn't just gonna mail those to you. Especially because I think he's dead.
It hasn't gotten a ton easier to get up every day and go sit in an office and do seemingly meaningless things. But it is nicer now that time has passed, and some things have taken shape. I am able to pursue what I came here for and I'm able to relate to others that are in the same state as me. I find encouragement from others to not focus solely on the job and the tangible, but to work towards what I feel I came here for, what gives me life. The job has provided stability within which to do that. And if anything else, I can get comedic material from the job- I once had a co-worker stand six inches from me and jokingly poke me over and over while repeating, "I'm not touching you. I'm not touching you. I'm not touching you." You can't write that stuff! That never would have happened if I were independently wealthy and didn't have to work- unless it was one of my servants. And then I would fire that guy on the spot.
 Cory Cavin is a comedian/actor/improviser living in New York and attendee of The Haven. You can see him perform with his improv group, Chantico Warfare. He also has a blog- which you could be reading right now.
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Posted by AB on 9/18/2006 | 0 comments
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