Monday, January 13, 2014

The Artist and "The Day Job" : Should You Quit Your Job to Devote All of Your Time to Creativity?

                  I'm an artist to... and to be frank... my answer is no! Many artists are born understanding their artistic language, what gets their wheels spinning, what makes them do what they do creatively. Almost all artists have experienced how a 9 to 5 job gets in the way of their creativity, how it manages to drain and stifle our nature and doesn't provide what is essential for us, like time an ideas, inspiration, and needless to say, energy! However, there exist attributes of  having consistent and sufficient work that artists need in order to flourish and continue sharing their gift with the world. This may sound blasphemous to some die hard art freaks but artists need cash! In fact we need a steady source of cash more than the average person! Many in the art world feel indifferent about the monetary characteristics of life as an artist. They believe that money shouldn't be a deciding factor at all, that creativity will somehow suffice and that if you really are an artist, as you claim, you will venture out whole hear



ted into the field regardless of your finances. Sadly this is a mistake many artist make despite good intentions, motives, and work ethic. No matter how you choose to see it you just can't go to the store and pay for your groceries or gas with your creativity. You can't pay your rent or mortgage with hopes, good intentions, and dreams of one day becoming a world renown artist. You need cash. Its a harsh reality when you're anxious to hit the art scene but if you're not bringing in enough money from your artwork alone to sustain yourself, how can you say that you're an artist? An artist understands that art is apart of his or her life so anything they have to do in order to be an artist they do it. They work a day job... they go to school...they juggle and they balance. They do what they have to do to because their passion for reaching their goal keeps them holding on. Many successful artists understand this one universal thought and it is that a degree of responsibility comes with any passion you may have in life.
                          Among other attributes, consistent work provides a daily dose of reality that is important to we who are so lucky to be artistically inclined. Art has the strange ability to take on the form of an escape from reality which is definitely a needed break in this society. On the other hand reality in the right perspective can serve as a medicine no matter how hard to swallow. As artists we can easily create a fantasy world, a dimension that only we're aware of, which can harm us. This fantasy realm can cause us to think irrationally or selfishly, to think that using the world around us to create art is more important than using art to create the world around us. Even your day job should inspire you! You are the creative being and you are the constant variable in the equation. Reality should push you to be creative, not avoid the responsibilities it brings. Make reality apart of your creative process. It will fuel you! Use it! Find time to put it in a song, a painting, a dance, or a poem! The world and all of its realities doesn't make art better, you're right about that. Art makes the world and all of its realities better!

Here's some good reads on artists and the day job concept!:
"The Artist In The Office: How to Creatively Survive and Thrive Seven Days A Week" by: Summer Pierre
"15 Famous Authors Who Inspire Me To Keep My Day Job"



 

Welcome to Our World Revisited

Welcome to Our World Revisited