Gig Quotes

“The only thing that keeps some people from being happy is they’re greedy. They don’t follow their heart. You know, like I say, you can come up here today and say, “Hey, I’ll give you a million dollars, walk off from this.” I’d tell you no. I wouldn’t be happy with a million dollars. I really wouldn’t. ’Cause I’m just happy doin’ this.”
― Marisa Bowe, Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

“We put very little emphasis on articles that we own because we never really own anything anyway. If you concentrate on money, money always puts a barrier between you and your spiritual life. Between you and Great Spirit. Therefore, we live simply and require little. And our lives are generally more calm, more spiritual because of that. One day, I will breathe my last breath and cross the Great Divide which is between here and the Creator. And hopefully, I have walked my life path as we have been taught to do, in such a manner so that when I do cross, and I am standing before Great Spirit, I will not have to hang my head in shame. For now, I’m very happy. I love my job. It’s my life—and I love knowing that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing with my life. That brings peace.”
― Marisa Bowe, Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

“It’s just—I’ve always felt a personal obligation to be doing something that is for the betterment of everyone. And the environment is like, well, what could be more important than that? So even though it’s frustrating sometimes, I couldn’t just stop and follow something that might be extremely interesting to me but didn’t help the world. Like my husband’s a furniture maker—he makes beautiful, really beautiful wooden furniture—chairs and beds and things that people just love. They’re works of art, really. And I feel so fortunate to be exposed to an artist and to all these ideas about how to make things so beautiful. My life is rounded out for me that way. At the same time, I know I could never do what he does because I have this deeprooted need to feel that my job is of public service. [Laughs] Sometimes I wish I was doing what he does, but I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. So I’ve done what I feel obligated to do. And, you know, I’m not always ecstatically happy, but I feel good about my job. And I think that’s the most important thing.”
― Marisa Bowe, Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

“And in a sense that makes us all the same. We are simply doing what we’re asked to do to the best of our ability given our talents, whatever they may be. So rather than try to compare people and talk about who’s got power and who doesn’t, I think we should all sort of just put our arms around each other’s shoulders and drink a beer and say it’s a hell of a life, you know?”
― Marisa Bowe, Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

“Once I’m finished writing a song, my job is done and my only input is: please perform it often and loudly and sell many, many copies. If I want to do an artist thing, then I’ll go write a song for myself and go perform it the way I want to. But if you buy it, you can do what you want to and I’ll be happy. I don’t want to be a producer or a performer, I want to be a writer. And letting it go after you’re done writing it is a big part of being a writer. I’ve never had any problems with the way any of my songs have been recorded and I’m not sure I’d tell you even if I did. My mama says, “Don’t shit where you eat.” I’m pretty hopeful and confident about the future. I think I’ll continue to make a good living at this and have lots of fun. Unlike performing, this is a field you can grow old in. The performers have to put up with the youth culture bullshit more and more lately which is one reason MTV looks so good and sounds so bad. But the writers can be old and ugly ’cause no one ever sees them. A lot of writers are in their fifties or sixties. I see myself like that one day. But whether I’m successful or unsuccessful, this is something I have to do. I mean that. If I don’t spend a certain part of most days with the music, I get very unhappy and cranky. I’d do it even if I weren’t getting paid for it. So right now, I am very grateful that I don’t have to have a day job to support my songwriting habit.”
― Marisa Bowe, Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

“But I take pride in my job. I really—it’s my baby, you know? That front desk is my baby. I just take a lot of pride in what I do. And my ability to handle the position, I don’t know why I can do it. It’s just something about my [laughs]—you know, I’m easygoing. Basically, I like people. I do—I do get a little upset with the rude ones. But mostly, I just let it go. It just slides off me. You know? That’s the right way to live.”
― Marisa Bowe, Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

“It’s what you do with what you have that makes you what you are.” Because some people will put limits on you because you’re black, or because you’re a woman, they’ll put limits on you because you’re Hispanic or because you live in a poor neighborhood. My mother said the only thing that limits you is you. Yes, you may have to struggle a little bit more because of people and their prejudices but you can always find a way around it. But you cannot let people put you in a box and make you feel inferior. No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. [Laughs] Those are all Momisms, but they’re true.”
― Marisa Bowe, Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

“And you do find those people. Whether they’re your friends, or—often you find these people that are amazing and beautiful and their whole life is about like—there are Foley artists, you know, sound effects guys, and their whole life is about trying to make this perfect “plop” sound. They’re like, “Oh, if you drop a stone in this metal basin with just the right amount of water in it, it will make a perfect “plop’ sound.” These craftsmen nuts, that’s all they do. They’re just geniuses. It’s beautiful. People who want to do the best that they can do even on something that most people don’t notice. And those are the people you want to find.”
― Marisa Bowe, Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

“There’s two kinds of people in this world. There are people who talk about it, and people who do it.”
― Marisa Bowe, Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs

“And I don’t care that they die. I think that the ephemeral quality to flowers is really seductive. I think there’s something really wonderful about the fact that they really only last for a certain amount of time. Within that time, they can be more beautiful than something that might last forever.”
― Marisa Bowe, Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs