The line between business and personal lives

The music world is an interesting example because it really is all about contacts. Knowing the right people does tend to get you a lot further than you might if you were judged purely on talent alone - a lot of the more 'prestigious' things that I have done came about because I chose to go to university in Bristol and knew a lot of conductors and choir directors there.

On a superficial level, where my 'official' (i.e. non-musical) job is concerned, I try to keep my business and personal lives separate. I find that I often need to 'escape' one or the other and the best way for me to do that is to compartmentalize - I don't really think about work when I'm not there, and when I'm at work I focus on getting the job done and not worrying about my personal life. I often find that it is quite a relief to be able to compartmentalize in this way.

I'd be quite interested to read the thoughts of those who are self-employed. It's a state that I'd like to reach in the future but I'm not sure whether I would be the sort of person who would try to set myself particular hours in which to work (i.e. continue to compartmentalize), or whether I'd be someone who would fit work around my personal life and have them constantly intersect. I have a feeling that if I didn't try to keep the two separate I'd probably just never get anything done...

V Tog would you say that work was a meditation to rest from private life and that the private life allows as a meditation to rest from work life?

I would almost infur that this would make two seperate mindframes necisary for a balanced mind, but that might be the whole duelism(is that a word?) thing.

I work for myself. I used to work for others for 25 years. In this day and age, they way things work is you go and join a secret society like the freemasons and they hook you up with wealth and success in exchange for pushing their own agenda through you.

So even if you're the best musician in the world, you'll never be successful. If you're the worst musician in the world and a freemason, you become a millionaire.

This is what is meant by "networking".

the best way for me to do that is to compartmentalize

V I think that's it in a nut shell.

rugadd wrote: V Tog would you say that work was a meditation to rest from private life and that the private life allows as a meditation to rest from work life?

In a way, yes. The sort of meditation where you clear your mind of all the clutter of whichever you're not doing at the time...