John Lucas

What did I do today?

I spent some time thinking about the fact that I have now been unemployed for four months. This is a new experience for me. Since I started my career in journalism in 1997, I have never been unemployed for any length of time.

Spring and summer have not been the worst times to be jobless, especially for someone who likes to walk places. I had a nice little stretch of time when I would walk to a coffee place to sit with a laptop and peruse the job postings on LinkedIn or work on my resume. 

Then I realized that I was spending money I didn’t really have. So now I stay at home. 

The thing is, going for coffee got me out into the community and gave me an excuse to put presentable clothing on instead of wallowing in my pajamas all day.

So what do I do with my days?

Well, here’s what I did today. Not necessarily in this order.

I wrote a freelance article for Stir about an upcoming immersive audiovisual installation by local soundscape artist Yota Kobayashi. My interview with him touched on the nature of reality and the power of perception, along with Shinto beliefs about the infinite “divinities” that keep all of nature in balance.

I finished a TikTok video promoting an upcoming performance by my band.

I applied for two jobs.

I walked over to the public library to return some books, including a biography of television pioneer John Logie Baird. I recently wrote an article about him for Mental Floss, which hasn’t been published yet.

While at the library I picked up Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Only later did I notice that the book was written with Neil Strauss. Or possibly by him. I enjoyed reading The Dirt, but I have some reservations about Strauss as a person.

I bought cat food on the way home. It’s very convenient having a pet-food store in the condo complex where I live.

I worked out.

I chatted with some neighbours on the terrace. Another convenience: our patio leads directly out onto the communal eighth-floor terrace, which happens to be where the barbecue is. It has proven to be a great way to meet people. I may have chatted my way into some session work at a new recording studio, but that remains to be seen.

Is any of this interesting to anyone but me? I’m not sure. But maybe an accounting of my days’ activities will help me feel like I’m not simply wasting time or finding myself in a Groundhog Day-esque loop of fruitless existence.