I walked Sophie in the park this morning. It was another sleepless night last night which meant that everything is delayed. My to-do list only has one item crossed off and it is almost 3 in the afternoon. But Sophie and I were determined to have our walk. We made a loop from 96th to 86th street. Sometimes we were in the shade, sometimes in the sun. Up a hill, down a hill. It felt good to finally be out in shorts and sandals. -Journal entry from mid-June.
For the last year, I’ve worked for “A Place Rover.” How is a rover defined?
Someone who spends their time wandering aimlessly.
This is the most common definition.
A client recently apologized to me on behalf of her dog, Ozzie. “She takes a long time on her walks,” I assured her that this didn’t bother me. While it can look like they’re dawdling the dogs are actually making sense of their world by smelling, listening and looking at everything. This is why Rover is a great name for a dog.
Don’t get me wrong I value order. I write a to-do list every day and follow a weekly priority sheet. My patience with my dogs does not extend itself to endless checkout lines and stalled subway cars. Writing this I am not happy with myself for having seriously mismanaged my time today.
But it was only by adopting a casual and leisurely pace that a picture finally emerged of what I really wanted for myself. If my pace over the last year been more purposeful and strident would I be writing now? What if I rejected the idea of making a living as a pet sitter because it was too romantic?
A player not restricted to a particular position on the field.
I see myself in this player. This petwork/gigwork/lifework vocation came about because I refused to play a series of positions; mid-level media manager, office martyr, put-upon girlfriend, and strained commuter. I would play but not the way everyone expected me to.
A vehicle for driving over rough terrain, especially one driven by remote control over extraterrestrial terrain.
As a freelancer, you’re driving yourself through a landscape with a few spectacular vistas and many muddy bogs. Brace yourself because direction will only reveal itself in pieces, very slowly.
For all its playful connotations being a Rover is a tall order. You’re a player with a strategic and expansive vision of the entire field, not just a set position. You’re a vehicle secure and fortified enough to manage hazardous terrain. You must believe in things only realized in glimmers on wanderings. Then you’re charged with aligning all those precious fragments into a sustainable life.
All Rover definitions are courtesy of Oxford Living Dictionaries.
petwork/gigwork/lifework 