So I write music articles for a company (reviews, general articles, that sort of thing). I've been doing it for a while, but it's sort of a 'freelance' thing where I'm not actually employed by them, they just pay me when I do it based on how many people read what I write and that sort of stuff. It's terrible pay (really terrible, like $20 a month) because it's based on the views, and I write for a local chapter of it, so there aren't exactly a lot of views to be had. I do it, though, 'cause a little money is better than no money, and it's a nice thing to show future employers, especially if I want a bigger job doing something like this.
Anyways, I've been with the place for over a year, and I pretty much went on hiatus for half a year while churning out like an article a month because I was just sick of it, I felt no real incentive, and I was just overall not feeling mentally well at all. I'm not much better, but I desperately need anything I can get right now so I've been trying to be more consistent this past month.
Now for the real point: The other day I got an email asking if I wanted to cover a music festival going on about 5 hours away from here next month. It's not just some local-band thing, it's acts like Nas, RJD2, Yelawolf, Pretty Lights, Infected Mushroom...but I checked the site and it'd cost me like $200+ just to be present at the place all 3 days, and that's not including the lodging. I told them so, and they told me I'd be getting free tickets there.
This might not seem like some mind-blowing achievement, but keep in mind I've pretty much just been some amateur writer whose stuff they slap up so they have someone in this area, I'm not actually employed by them. So this isn't something anyone would consider a job, it's more of a hobby with tiny benefits. But the place has the potential to be a job if you're good enough, and it can get you places. So for me, this is a massive step up...I'm doing something I do also because I love it, and they're shipping me off to a semi-expensive music festival because they want me personally to cover it. I'm not even the only one in my state who could, but they picked me.
I have crushingly-low self esteem, so it doesn't really take much to make me feel good, but this has me in much higher spirits than I've felt in a while. It is awesome.