The Life You Want.
I believe that’s the siren’s call of 90% of the buskers out there – “I’m doing this because it’s what I want to do, it allows me to live the life I want”.
Be it the lack of a boss, malleable office hours, making people happy for a living, earning by doing what you love, travelling, living off-the-grid or whatever else it is that brings you to busk, for most buskers it is the life they want.
But if you take money out of this life, you’ll very quickly find that the life you get is not so enjoyable.
Kari Revolva, a San Francisco hoola-hooper and busker, has written an amazing open letter to Oprah, about being asked to perform for Oprah’s “The Life You Want” tour…for free. Her writing is so good that although today is going to be stupid-busy, I read the whole thing (it’s very enjoyably long) and am now writing my own post to get you to do the same.
Seriously, read it: http://revolva.net/2014/11/13/an-open-letter-to-oprah.
Some choice sentences, to demonstrate her fantastic way with words:
“Dear Oprah:
No effing way. I could not believe it when a producer from Harpo Studios got in touch last week, asking if I could perform at your “The Life You Want” San Jose tour stop. I mean, OPRAH WINFREY! I’ve always wanted to hear, “Welcome Revollllllvaaaaa,” as I cartwheeled onstage, to tell you my life story—the profundity of all my lingering student loan debt causing you to weep and then declare to America that I am your new BFF. (Sorry,Gayle!)”
And –
“Fortunately, my heartbreak was soon short-circuited by the stroke I had when I realized your tour, with its tickets starting at $99 (for the homeless), middling out at $599 (for fast food employees) and rocketing to $999 (For 90s rappers)—featuring trailblazers who never have to dig through every compartment in their car for enough change to cross the Bay Bridge—would be ringing up local performers asking them to do their job for no pay.”
Read the rest. Go do it! <—–click there. Now 🙂
A little more about Kari.
Her website
Her “Ask Revolva” posts
Her breakdown of the many jobs an artist has
Her Linked In profile
And her Facebook Page
Oh, and a video she entered into our competition for FlowToys:
Are you living the life you want? Or are you busking for some other reason? Disheartened by the way busking has turned out? Or loving the change from your previous job?