Rise
by Caetlin—Age 32—Seattle, WA
Anyone would call my meteoric rise from the lowly position of production assistant to digital designer in less than six month’s time an act of dumb luck or the result of some form of blackmail. The truth is I’ve worked exceedingly hard for it. I get up at 4.15 every morning. I work ten hour days, without breaks. At the end of the day, I drive home and start working again. I work on the weekends, lying in bed with my laptop, never quite sure if it’s Saturday or Sunday. I barely hear the clock ticking. I remember reading somewhere that if you want to live a long life you should invest in family and friends. Please tell me, what are those?
I spend 50 to 60 hours a week creating something you will never touch, or smell, or taste. I use color schemes and prose to elicit the feelings I think you should experience when looking at my work. I think I’m being clever. I make a living creating little pieces of disposable art: beautiful to look at, but intangible in any other way.
When you buy my work, and send it around to your family and friends, it is enjoyed for a time, and then cast aside like most things for something new. All of my time amounting to nothing more than an email sent around to friends and family to be enjoyed for a moment. I tell myself that what I’m doing is important, that people use my work as a means to connect and share. But it gnaws at me. What does it say about my work/life balance that I don’t even save enough of my own time to connect and share with the people I love? I can’t even afford to buy my own house, let alone rent an apartment in the city…yet.
My rise on the corporate food chain, from menial assistant to a full-fledged designer, has been a deliberate and concentrated effort. I’ve put in the hours, sacrificed the vacations and sick leave. I pass on the corporate freebies that are native to the software industry culture…beer and liquor in the office fridge, video games in the break room, pizza Fridays, and very, very casual dress because they distract me from my goal. My eyes are on the prize. I fancy being an Art Director by age 35. Wish me luck.
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