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"



 

7 Reasons Why You Should Travel When You're Young!



Reason #1          When you're older, life just seems to "happen" to you. There's a lot of things that you were able to control that now seems inevitable as you grow older because of the responsibilities  you've acquired and the obligations you've taken upon yourself. Relationships, family, your career, and all other types of commitments you may not have had when you were younger can all stand in the way of doing things you want to do. As an adult more decisions to enjoy yourself have to be made carefully and thoughtfully, if they even come to your mind apart from you busy schedules. Its best to see the world when your responsibilities are few and the worries of everyday life seem dismal.


Reason #2          Your view of the world as a young person is very impressionable. As an adult it becomes much harder to reverse the realities you have come to accept and therefore your world view is limited to that which only you have encountered or come to believe is true. When you are young it is best to travel and form a wider perspective of the world and develop a broader range of experiences to glean from. This is where the term "well-rounded individual" comes from! You are less prone to narrow-mindedness when you have a bigger selection of ideas, perspectives, experiences, and encounters under your belt! Traveling gives you that benefit!

http://youngadventuress.com/2013/03/travel-excuses.html

Reason #3         Life is bigger than just you! As an adult you begin to see and understand this concept more. Unfortunately when you are young the world can seem more as if it revolves around you. Its easy to think only of yourself and your concerns because you probably never had to worry about anyone else but yourself. Traveling and discovering the lives of others in different parts of the world and realizing this place really is could help you to grasp this concept of life being more than just what you know and what you see. This is very important in creating the person you want to be in life.                                             

http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/where-to-go-in-2013-8219291.html


Reason #4         Exploring the world is not only fun but teaches you to expect the unexpected! As a young person life is ever unfolding before you like a book and you must learn to live with the expectancy of experiencing, learning, and encountering new things, even things you may not necessarily like or enjoy! Problems and difficulties help you to think more sharply and what a way to learn this than by being on your own in the middle of a country you've never been to before! You'd have to ask questions! You'd have meet people! You'd have to get information! You'd have to think for yourself and use your own thinking tank!


Reason #5          When a young person gets use to routine it is a very dangerous thing. Routine is most often times mistaken for responsibility when really routines provide consistency which requires little responsibility. A planned course doesn't leave much to be responsible for or even think about. Neither does it require much to imagine or be creative with. Its a routine. Life should not be a routine. Why spend so much time establishing routines for the young to follow when as an adult routines are what hinders adults from finding unconventional opportunities and having the ability to think outside the box? These are important qualities that successful adults possess!

http://www.jetsetter.com/feature/destination-2013


Reason #6           Appreciation for our world is hard to develop when you become an adult who is not well-rounded, hasn't traveled, is uncultured, and is limited to his or her individual life experiences.  Appreciation for the world's many cultures and its people, appreciation for nature and all that our world entails does not come from only our view it. This is what traveling opens your mind up to. The impressionable mind of a young person can easily acquire such a skill. Appreciating life and our world is a skill and a very important one at most!


Reason #7          The most important reason why you should travel when you're young is to develop more of what this world needs; compassion! Seeing the world with your own eyes allows you to see with your heart the things that aren't so glamorous, the parts of the world that isn't so commercial and the places that aren't necessarily tourist attractions but are none the less apart of our world. Travel allows you to have compassion on those who live differently from yourself and helps you understand the importance of having this sense of obligation which is the basis for charity and affecting change.

 http://youngadventuress.com/2013/03/travel-excuses.html

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/19781.aspx

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/03/generation-stuck-why-dont-young-people-move-anymore/254349/



 

Rethinking Our Resources Can Provide Hope In Food Shortage and World Hunger

                              Its safe to say that food shortage and world hunger is not a new subject. In fact it has been around for ages and has even increased over the years, so much so that the world is beginning to creatively and drastically reevaluate the resources available in such a way as to generate more resources. There's no longer any room for not replenishing valuable resources let alone wasting them. We have seen the effects of such behavior. One example of the world rethinking its resources is key hole gardening in rural countries such as Africa which experiences heavy drought and is unable to keep the ground fertile enough year round with such severe weather conditions. The raised round bed planters are bringing diversity to the scarce supply and limited diet of people in areas like south Africa were millions die from malnutrition. These natives rely on stable crops for survival and now because of the invention of key hole gardening a positive chain reaction has occurred where they can feed their animals as well as themselves because the invention works by retaining moisture and heat to guarantee harvest year round.
           

                          Fish farming is another reevaluated resource that has proven to be successful in creating more of what we need. Fish farming involves raising fish commercially in tanks to guarantee varieties of fish and create a natural harvesting of each species. Before fish farms markets had to rely on what was quickly becoming a scarcity. The supply of fish were diminishing drastically and setting back causing more to become impoverished and reliant on other resources for survival for their families but thanks to fish farming one can look forward to an increase in the markets for fish.
                      
                          The biggest and most profitable reevaluation of natural resources is the new technologies created to help build biodiversity. Without biodiversity soil erosion can instantly sprout up and cause infestation and destroy both soil and crops. This means less crops grown and more importantly less fertile areas for regenerating growth in countries that feed the world. Biodiversity also helps regulate climate and temperature for the production of crops and because of this numerous countries are beginning to see the growing need for biodiversity, especially since the urban population will increase by 2 billion before the year  2050. The UK government launched Biodiversity: The UK Action Plan in 1994. This has since then sparked other nations to put more emphasis on creating agriculture programs to replace what has been taken away by our growing demand for natural resources.

                         Reevaluating what resources we have can leave the world in a much better state because its not about what we can produce, its about what can be done with what we are already producing that can change the quality of life for so many on earth.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/josh-schonwald/future-food_b_1421861.html






 

Is Technology Reducing Social Interaction?

                                              Why would you visit when you can just call them? Why even call when you can just send them a text message?! Oh! Better yet, why don't you post a quick "hey" on their "wall". DONE! Posted! Now off to the bank!....but why would you go to the bank when you can just call and have that money transferred into your account? Oh! Better yet, you can just get on the web and transfer it yourself so don't put away that smart phone just yet! Good thing you are already online and you can order your groceries or else you'd have to go out for that. Now you don't have to deal with anyone today! Technology is great!
                       This may sound like a plan for an ideal and hassle free way to complete a couple of daily tasks on someones to-do list but while it may have been quicker to achieve and almost effortless due to today's technology this person is missing something that is definitely on every one's psychological to-do list: social interaction. Although he or she may have the choice to meet and socialize with as many people at any time, they have chosen to do what they are slowly being convinced is just as good or even better in some ways. Online social interaction grows at an increasingly rapid rate every day... however... does it qualify as a substitute for physical and real life communication rather than being an enhancement? Are they both the same? Which is preferred most in our society and most importantly why? In some instances we have become so psychologically dependent upon technology that it becomes even a necessary part of intimate and cordial relationships, e.i. showing public displays of affection on online social networks. One would think the relationship itself is suffering without an occasional profession of love over a public social network...as if PDA needed to reach a new level. Realizing that you could go to that significant person and tell them or actually show them that you care about them is no longer a top option but isn't this real life or have we reached some type of twilight zone where the Internet is now reality?

                         Technology has even reduced social interaction on a less psychological level. Take for an example the completion of common tasks such as shopping, banking, scheduling events, and handling medical affairs. How many times have you called an institution in search of a simple answer to a rather simple question and reached several recorded operating systems before somehow maneuvering yourself to a human being? Countless times no doubt on the basis of security and accuracy. Convenience has reached a whole new level but has the price become too high to pay? I s technology reducing our much needed involvement with one another and what effects will this have on our society's future?
                       
                                     It is already apparent. A lack of social involvement in our daily lives will hinder us and reduce the value of daily life activities, events, and situations. Things that were once deemed inconvenient will become things we will pay a high price to have. These are called "hand crafted" or " hand made" merchandise versus "manufactured" or "distributed " items. Our vocabulary has and will see significant changes. Consumer satisfaction will see significant changes as well. Relationships with others have already changed mentally and physically because of increased technology. Although we crave our gadgets, our easy accessibility, and the social universe we have created online, we must consider the results of such cravings. Do we really want to live in a world with billions of people and limit ourselves to all the possibilities physical social interaction can have for one that is shows half of who we really are? I don't want to be seen as just a "profile" in this vast world of opportunities and people. Neither do I wish to have a form of communication but rather communication itself. A recent study shows that because of television and computers people are staying inside more often. Instead of going out to meet a potential life partner they can now find one online on match making sites where it is predetermined who is right for them. Is this an example of giving away the right to think for yourself or is it an example of the new age in social life effected by technology? Technology of all forms tends to agree with humanities attraction to easy, fast, and convenient ways of doing things. The less troublesome the better but perhaps we're shooting ourselves in the foot by seeking to create this utopia by means of technology. Can we really do this without the creation becoming an ultimate creator of what we cannot control?

How Can My Feelings Effect My Reality?

              Sure it is a commonly used phrased and probably used to often but we get the gist of it! Whatever we think or believe about ourselves is who we will be and who we will become....but why? Why can't I believe I am inferior and indeed become superior? Why do I have to feel good in order to do good? How does it work? How can my feelings effect my reality?
          While some people may have actual evidence that the way they've felt in past situations did not
actually effect their reality, they may not have considered their core emotions and what was at the center of what they felt. The mind can be very deceptive even to ones own self, especially when what you want to believe isn't actually what you believe at all. The reality is that reality doesn't change without there being a cause. This cause always has its origin within the mind. The mind is a very complex and powerful entity that has the power to create wanted and unwanted results. How does the mind produce results? Through feelings. The way we feel about ourselves and particular circumstances is a product of our mind and this product (feelings) if not controlled will lead to a change in our reality. Lets take pain for instance. Pain is feeling, not a reality. It only becomes reality once our mind produces the feeling and we act upon the feeling and thus make the feeling a reality. Now lets apply this to concept to many other feelings we have, like insecurity, unworthiness, doubt, emptiness, prosperity, motivation, worthiness, capability, and acceptance. We have these feelings because of what we think in mind about ourselves, others, situations, and circumstances because feelings are products of the mind. In order to control what we feel we must first control what is being produced by the mind. Now that is a feat! This is what everyone would like to do, it is indeed a desirable and rare ability!
                      One reason why it is very difficult to control the mind is because we would have
to somehow rule out all other influencing factors that are processed by our mind everyday through our senses. We see and hear so much in just a few seconds and every bit of it is processed by our mind and stored! Imagine a computer that is always storing information and processing it and can never shut down. It would be rather difficult to control this computer or get it to do what we want it to do when we want it to do it. This is how our mind can be if we aren't careful. So what are methods we can use to control what our minds produce? After all, we don't want our minds to bombard us with unnecessary and negative feelings or we will go crazy! Well we must filter out what gets processed by the mind. These filters should be positive filter in order for our minds to produce positive feelings! A positive filter would be a positive belief or a set of positive memories or even images that affected us in positive ways. To create filters and have them work to our benefit is also difficult because at first our mind will reject any positive implements that we try to set in place. This is because our mind has so much negativity to process around us that we literally have to refrain from the media, refrain from news of troubling events, refrain from associating with negative people and thus save our brains the trouble of dealing with so much negativity. Then we get a chance to set our filters in place! Nothing like a clear mind and a clear conscience to start us out on the right path!

          It may seem rather hard to refrain from negativity in life, in fact it is hard! This is why a balance is needed. We can't do it all but we can do somethings to change our feelings and thus change our reality. Start using filters day by day, little by little. Take on one pesky negative thought at a time. Make goals and keep them. There is no such thing as instant success without practice to reach a desired goal. The ability to do this is up to you.