Choosing between volunteer job and music pursuit

[dr244]

This is a small problem compared to others here... and I'm not even a teenager anymore, I'm 21, but I've been coming to this site occasionally for a long time and still need advice.

I'm a musician, and after years of looking for people I click with and everything, I've finally got a band that is serious, has been touring and doing things I've be wanting my entire life. I'm not in school, I'm a full-time musician and work side jobs in construction or other temporary things. I don't expect to make a living from this band, it's just something I've always wanted and it's all coming together for me.

I've recently got accepted for a volunteer job with a conservation program where I don't receive pay, but instead get living space and food. They've been screening me for 2 months. I'm basically a hippie, and have been interested in environmentalism and activism since I was young. It begins in a month, and will last for many months on the opposite side of the country, so it would mean it's over for my band.

Basically the problem is that I can't decide which to pursue. A band that's going places and means something to me, or a temp conservation job that could be once in a lifetime, but then again so could the band. Neither is going to get me money or put me on a career path, so I'm basically deciding which experience would be more rewarding to me personally.

Ugh. Just don't know what to do. Opinions/advice?

[.Brittany.]

Hey there,

That does definitely seem like a hard decision. If it were up to me, I'd do the volunteering thing, but I'm a volunteer junky, and love to volunteer. I believe that the best thing that you could do, is the lovely pro and con thing. Where you think of all the pros of staying with your band, and all the cons of staying with your band, and the same thing with volunteering.

You maybe could get some experience from volunteering that you wouldn't get from staying with your band, or your band could hit a record deal.. The choice is up to you, but I'm sure you'll make the right choice!

Good luck
Brittany