In this stage of my life, I kind of feel like Peter Parker. Not Spider-Man so much, but mostly Peter. When I do get to do what I love and do, it is at a cost to what I need to do. These past few weeks, Iāve been more busy than usual, traveling to speak at events, attending rallies, sometimes bringing the kids with me, as winter approaches, staying home with the kids while they recover from their fevers while my wife travels and speaks, etc. As most of you know, itās been an unprecedented time, and it still is, no matter how much the world tries to move on.
In life, there is what weāre called to do, and what we need to do to make ends meet and feed our families. The goal is always for those two things to converge, but in the meantime, for many of us, we have to balance those things as best as possible.
That said, it didnāt feel great to be let go from Papa Johnās, but if I had an employee who kept needing last minute time off every other week, Iād have to make a decision about his or her employment too.
Thatās how I feel like Peter Parker. Particularly the cinema version played by Tobey Maguire in the 2nd installment of his trilogy. He literally had the same job, delivering pizzas. He was late doing so because he was doing life-saving work as Spider-Man. Of course, to a manager of a pizza place, your concern is serving your customers, staying afloat, and feeding your family, so even if the manager knew Peter was Spider-Man, my guess is that he still would have fired him. Itās never happened to me before; in fact, Iāve always had the reputation of being consistent and reliable in every job I had in my adult life. So you can imagine the final conversation my manager was a little offputting.
Since I was about 9 years old, I had a job. I worked as a janitor for my late grandfatherās custodial service, David and Sons Maintenance, then after a few years, I also taught gymnastics. From there, there was always something, and this will be no different. I am a Washington, and Washingtons work. If thereās one thing that unites us all, all my uncles, my aunt, all my cousins and myself, itās that we work, and we work hard. So this isnāt a piece to elicit sympathy. No, not in the slightest.
Meanwhile, things are beginning to open up more both for me as JoDavi, and in other areas. I havenāt shared this anywhere yet, but soon, everyone will see my spring tour poster. You will notice that Columbus, Ohio is on the list. Thereās a company that hosts artists and pairs them with electronic and visual artists to do these sort of spontaneous types of shows. Iāve never done anything like this, but Iām excited. The way we connected was pretty cool though.
I found out about this particular company because an artist on Instagram posted a screenshot of their email to him. Apparently, this particular artist was posting pro-Hamas stuff on his feed. I checked his feed to be sure, and yes. This guys was full #FreePalestine, and low-key celebrating October 7th. The venue emailed him to tell him they were going to drop him from their roster if he kept doing it, so his response was to screenshot their email and post it for the world to see. I never heard of this artist, but another musician peer of mine shared it. When I saw the share, I saw that he didnāt blot out the email, so without even seeing where the venue was, I emailed them.Ā
In my email, I commended them for their stance and said that I would very much like to be one on their roster. The lady on the other end gave me her number and we chatted the next week. She said it had been difficult because they lost a few artists after that encounter. I was able to offer encouragement, and we talked about the current situation for a few. Awesome news is that now Iām on their roster and will be there this February (by the way, for those in the Columbus, OH area š). Itās another client attained, and we happen to have common values. For me and my family as well, itās another source of income as I prepare for 2024.
The Lord has been faithful to me and my family. Sometimes I do complain, but I really shouldnāt. As the old saints say, āHeās been too good.ā I just want to encourage those of you who may be struggling daily to find that balance. Keep struggling. Youāll find it, and the right people will find you.Ā