On the way back

Salut toi,

In the train again, on the way back this time and with my laptop. I took the first 10 minutes of the ride to finish something I was working on at the office. I often work in the train (or bus, but rarely while driving my car though :-) or in my bed once the kids are asleep. Some people might think that this is bad; they think we shouldn't bring work at home... But what if I love what I do, what is wrong with that?

I used to freak out when I felt that I didn't invest enough time in my artistic creations (did you take a look at http://multimad.com ?). I even took a pay cut at one point to be able to work 4 days a week while I was working for Softimage, so that I could work on my creative self... And the first few months I would be MAD at myself (yeah, it can happen :-), if I felt I had not been productive enough during that expensive day off... I have a tendency to procrastinate a lot (yeah, yeah, I know, we all do), and I used to hate that about myself... But now... I don't know... Maybe I'm just getting old... But I learned to accept myself a little more... I am as I am...

So, now that I work for Google and love it, I spend much more time working on my day job at night, and I feel good about it (and I compensate a bit by chatting with friends or going through Facebook or personal emails during the day so... :-). At one point, I realised that this is what I want to do (sometimes). I stopped to think about a night alone at home with the kids sleeping and no important house chores waiting for me, this time is MINE!!! What do I want to do with it? Work on my finished novel that I must partly rewrite if I want to submit it to publishing houses again? Work on the music I started composing to go with my novel? Work on new songs? Do another Kino short film? Write a new short story? Photography? Blogging? Watch a movie (alone... bleh)? Or do I just feel like working on this very exciting new project I chose to work on for Google?

What if, most of the time, I feel like working on my day job? Does this make me a monster? A workaholic? Who suffers from it? I had fun with the kids, now their sleeping. My house is in order. I can't go out or visit a friend (I could ask a friend to visit though, but I don't want to impose a long trip to never never land where I decided to build my nest, but if you are willing to pay me a visit once in a while on Wednesdays or Thursdays, be my guest :-)... Also, since I never have the kids on Mondays nor Tuesdays, I go out then (and last night, Tuesday, was real nice, but I think I already told you about that, I wouldn't want to rub it in :-). And I also have my freedom every second week-end, and the joy to spoil my kids every other week-end. What more could I ask for?

So after travailing, 42 years in time, to the peak of my life (or so they say), with a great job, great kids and an exceptional relationship with their mother (even though she has a boyfriend and I'm still single), I feel that the way back to where I came from will be a very interesting second half of life, and I intend to enjoy every minute of it... Even if, for me, enjoying the first 10 minutes of a train ride back home means to complete a task I started at my job... So be it... I spent the following 14 minutes writing this to you (and another 7 proff reading it) and will do so as often as I feel like it... Hoping you will still be there with me to enjoy the ride...

Have fun!

BYE
MAD