The Sports Games Studio at Microsoft got dissolved a few weeks ago. So my friends are in that "Your job now is to find a job" phase that MS supports. It is a fantastic time to talk with them. They are earning their salary, they have a task to do -- but their days have unaccountably filled with ( ( ( t i m e ) ) ), which they are normally starved for.
They are losing weight, building decks, cleaning their garages -- kind of a gentle, drawn-out snow day. The spring, for this period, is not wound quite so tight.
What I'm liking about it is, I'm getting to experience the reflective, unhurried side of them. The "I'm stepping back and thinking about my life" side. When 75 people at once suddenly go slack, it becomes clear that our normal drivenness is a choice; this is a game we all decided to play, and have suddenly decided not to.
I also like it because I am looking for a job right now, so it gives me a bunch of instant peers.
Now, in the mix, there's also the anxiety and purpose that comes of having to find a job in 6 weeks. It's not all rosy. But most of my friends are artists, and artists make stuff, and people who make stuff usually find work.
Hmm. It occurs to me that my software brain knows everything my theatre brain needs -- I just need to get them communicating, instead of switching paradigms. There is something delicious about living in both sides of the paradox. Gotta go.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
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