Now That You Have The Time, What Have You Done With It?
by Kama Linden
Now That You Have The Time, What Have You Done With It?
For those of us who are unemployed, use this time to reflect, rejuvenate, learn new skills, and plan your net move.
I am one of the many SAG-AFTRA performers who are currently unemployed due to Covid19. On March 12th, I was working as a dancer on a show called, “The Other Two”. Our Choreographer was trying to get more energy out of us, so she cheered, “Dance like this is your LAST JOB!”. We had just found out that Broadway would be shutting down for a month. We had no idea that the curtain would also be closing on the Film and Television Industry as well.
Sure enough, the next day, I showed up to Steiner Studios for one of my regular gigs on a soon to be aired Stars series. I checked in, got my voucher, put on my corrections officer uniform, went through Hair and Makeup, and then we hear, “You can change. You are wrapped!”. The film permits had all been pulled, and even though our show shoots inside a studio, we were also told to go home. One by one, all the shows that I had been slated to work on for the next few weeks had emailed that they were not filming for the foreseeable future and would be in touch. Thirty days, we were told. Ok, well, I do teach fitness, so I guess I will just try and pick up as many classes as I can this month at the gym.
March 16th, I teach one class for seniors to two brave students who showed up. I was ranting a bit on how it is unfair to take away people’s livelihoods when all people had to do is learn to cover their mouths when they cough! The two times I had 4–8 week illnesses, where I had bronchitis and lost my voice, were both due to someone on the subway COUGHING ON ME! I did not realize that people in the gym outside my classroom could hear me. A man came in and agreed with me wholeheartedly. Anyway, I heard that the gyms would be closing at 8pm, so I ran home so that I could swim before they did. I made it to our location in New Rochelle, made it through 100 laps (I usually do 110), and the lifeguard said at 4 pm that they were closing the pool for a company meeting. Little did I know, that would be my last swim. At 8 pm, all of the instructors were told to get on a ZOOM call. We were fired so that we could apply for unemployment. It was the best way for all. They sent us a letter to give unemployment with the company’s information, and that was let go due to the Covid19 shutdown. The hope was that we would be back in 30 days, rehired at our old rates. We are now in our third month.
My first week was everything from panic to depression, to wanting to end it all. Some friends who meant to help were suggesting that I work for Amazon, or similar. $15 an hour, but only 4-hour shifts. One company that stocks stores only gives 2-hour shifts at $15 an hour. No human can live on $30 a day or should be expected to. If you work even 1 hour a day, $15, then technically, “you have worked that day” and cannot get unemployment. Not enough to live on. No health benefits, but enough to make you lose unemployment. But other friends in the industry reminded me, “This is a PANDEMIC! THIS IS NOT YOUR INDUSTRY! YOUR INDUSTRY HAS SHUT DOWN! YOU CAN’T BE FORCED TO DO SOMETHING NOT IN YOUR INDUSTRY”. Plus, you may GET SICK! The Governor is ORDERING YOU to STAY HOME! DO THAT!
Now, I have the time….what do I do with it?
First, and foremost, I work out.
I run at least every other day and do my Vinyasa Yoga every day. Since the pools are closed, I pulled out my step and started doing Step Aerobics. I have my weights, so I do my strength workouts at least 3x a week. Then I see people are making videos. So I started making both exercise and music videos to put on my YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnY8PWesvgU&t=576s
4 Key Postural Exercises
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0PisuBFauE&t=87s
Vinyasa Warmup and Abs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reIz7NPsgUo
Southern Comfort from my 50th Birthday Party in my kitchen on ZOOM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPGeYqCjn0E
Everything in Good Time
I also became an expert at editing both videos in iMovie as well as MP3s in Garage Band for voiceovers. I took lots of photos of Bronx Park, where I run. Over the past two and a half months, we went from “winter” to “cherry blossoms” to “little yellow flowers” to SERIOUS OVERGROWN green foliage, perhaps because the park was able to BREATHE OXYGEN again. I uploaded these to my stock photo portfolios. I also used my tripod and timer to do self-portrait headshots, as well as music promo shots, which will be used for my new album artwork. And yes, since I didn’t have to “take off from work”, I managed to record my fourth studio album, “Everything In Good Time”, which will be for sale on Apple, Spotify, Deezer, and through my website this summer: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7lqGgAk0aiS8xDeMbJBggS
I am able to do all of the prep work for RELEASING a new album, that I would OTHERWISE be too busy to do if I was working: contacting companies for promotion, getting Covid19 discounts, both on promotion as well as pressing. Oasis was offering free shipping, as you cannot pick up your order!
I try to get out and play my guitar and sing for the good people in the Bronx and surrounding lower Westchester Parks. Even with a mask on, people will stop, listen, and show some love. I keep the mask on so that passersby and would be tippers and music buyers feel safe enough to come close. I have met many lovely and caring people, who stop to talk. Some I now know by name. One woman had said back in March when this all started, “I think this will make people care a bit more”. She was right. One of the songs on my new album, “Everything In Good Time”, is called “Searching for Madonna”. In it, I sing about people ignoring each other with their little white iPod headphones and being “desensitized to death and too immune to care. Self-absorbed, selfie snap self-aware”. The funny thing is now, we are told to “distance ourselves” from others. COMMANDED, in fact, to do so…and all we want is to connect with someone. I have also “gone to Temple” faithfully every Friday night on Zoom, as there is no excuse not to attend.
I have also taken this time to LEARN. Faithfully, every week I listen to Stephen Perlman’s online zoom acting workshops. I listen to Bree Noble’s musician tips on promotion, which is where I watched Chris Dunnet’s first guitar workshop and signed up for his $199 batch of lessons. I am a pretty good guitar player, but he kicked my butt a bit and helped me with new versions of B and F chords, which I am now using. I especially love the B7 and F9. And yes, I can now play a BAR CHORD! My next batch of lessons I plan to purchase is, “Learn how to create EDM music”…not because I want to change my style, but because I want to learn how to make music at home. Anytime I want. Or remix past songs. Or make mixes for teaching classes.
Ah, teaching…yes, I very much want to give my own lessons on Zoom in voice, guitar, as well as fitness. But I have found it very hard to get people to bite, as there is nothing like having someone SHOW YOU! I was a very hands-on teacher. My fitness students would say, “no one teaches like you! No one CORRECTS us like YOU!”. One would think that this should translate to instant, passive income, but it has not. But I am still hoping, and offering deep discounts for my time.
Although my industries were the first to shut down, it looks like both Film/TV and the gym will be the LAST to reopen. Phase 4. And if they do, will Film and TV be using background? There is talk of doing “CGI background performers”. What about all of the SAG-AFTRA performers who depend on background work not only to pay their bills but to get health insurance? Now that I am 50, even though I am fit and do not look my age, I would have to pay $600 a month to get health insurance through the state. I do not have that. Or risk getting sick and not being able to see a doctor. Will gyms actually have a use for instructors? As everyone will have to be “six feet apart”. Most of my classes were packed in tight on a Sunday morning. Even if the cap was 30 participants, somehow 35 would manage to squeeze into the room for my strength class on a Sunday morning. It’s the perfect excuse for more cutbacks, or to hire cheaper instructors with less experience, or tell us, “You can come back, but at half your rate, and for only one class vs. a Sunday triple”. Either way, the Covid19 shutdown has decimated the entertainment and fitness industries, which will force us to change or die. I am doing my best to use this time to learn new skills that I can use to up my game. My next hope is to be able to learn music production, mastering, video production, or all 3, on a level that I can compete with the professionals that I have always paid for their services in the past. Plus, it is FUN! It is my LOVE. My industry. And I want to be able to be in control of my creations, and be able to create whenever I want, not only when I have the time and the money to do so.
So now that you have the time, WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH IT?
Kama Linden is a singer-songwriter with 4 studio albums, the newest being, “Everything In Good Time”, releasing in Summer 2020. She is also an actress, fitness instructor, freelance photographer, and has a fitness book: “Healthy Things You Can Do In Front Of The TV”.
