It’s OK not to be a full time creative. It’s OK not to earn a living from your artwork. It’s OK if your creativity doesn’t pay the bills. Of course it's great if it does, but is that really the point?
This makes me think of Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. She talks about how we so often ask our creativity to support us, when it should be the reverse -- us doing whatever we can to support our creativity.
Perhaps you shouldn’t think of it as a fail Lovely, more an epiphany..!
“I write about things that I draw and I draw to accompany things that I write and I share my pictures…”
This speaks volumes to me… it’s a sort of ‘do what you love and love what you do’ moment… and I’ve felt it here too !
Like you I love to be creative, for so many reasons and in myriad ways, cooking, knitting, painting, gardening, photography and writing - all are my passions… I love to spend time on each of those things as often as possible but the moment they have become a job, with deadlines and schedules and yes, that terror of all terrors - administration - I am incapable of even a modicum of interest..!
So I create because I love to, for me, for my friends - no pressure with all the magic and passion I’ve always had..! Just like you… and I think you are wise to have made this discovery too, you are a beautiful artistic brilliant and gifted artist… don’t ever forget it just because it doesn’t pay the bills..!
Thank you so much Susie. For so long I did feel like a failure, I felt like it was greedy and selfish to want to earn a living fr my creativity. How funny that I never felt like that about being an accountant. I don’t feel like a failure any more though. I love what I have been creating and I’m so excited to keep drawing, writing and creating and sharing it here 💛
Thank you so much - Emily has managed to put into such heartfelt words every fear and grievance I have ever had… I’ve thought about this for what feels like forever, especially since joining this lovely Substack community, and no matter how much I’d love to make money from what I love to do best, I know I can’t cope with the reality…
“But I have learned that my inner creativity is fragile and precious. I want to nurture and protect it, I don’t want to destroy it with responsibility and overwhelm it with obligation. I don’t want my creativity to feel like my job.”
I just can’t tell you how much these beautiful words resonate with me. THANK YOU! I thought it was just me who felt this way. When my hobby was only my hobby it brought me so much joy and fulfillment. Then my hobby evolved into insta likes and sales and shows and galleries. Walking into my studio was heavy and that felt like I lost something precious in my life. So I decided at the beginning of this year just to stop everything. From now on I’ll only create for myself and I’ll give some of what I create away as gifts.
Dear Shannon, I’m so pleased to find that others resonate with my words. I was apprehensive of sharing as I think it’s awesome that creatives earn a living from their creativity - but when making money became the point for me and I couldn’t make enough, I almost gave it all up too.
Now, I put things in my shop and no one buys them except my family and the odd person who sees my work online, and that’s actually completely fine - and the joy that I get from giving things away is wonderful! What do you create? Xx
Thank you for sharing this. I so needed to hear it. I am loosing my mojo because what I create is begining to feel like an obligation. I'll have to revisit what I want to do with what I create. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you Klamo, I'm so glad that my words helped. It has felt like such a conundrum and still does, but in the end, I keep reminding myself that creativity is the point and the purpose, everything else is just a side benefit!
I hope you will soon feel more at peace with your decision. The most important thing is that your creativity makes your soul sing. Some are creative in business, some in playing with yarn, some in writing, some... After thinking about it again, I begin to understand that it all becomes a confusing mess if we want to make money from it. Or does this sound confusing? I'm still figuring things out.
I wasn't at peace for a long time, but I think that was because the job I was doing was not working well for me. But now I'm in another role at another company and this feels good. 💛
Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m in a very similar place in my creative journey. I’m trying very hard to not feel guilty because I can’t support myself with my art but instead realize it’s a gift.
Its such a conundrum isn't it Jennifer? I see so many people here and on other social platforms caveating their creativity because they're not a 'successful' artist/illustrator/author and earning a living from their artwork and it breaks my heart. I understand so well wanting it, but actually, letting go a little has helped me to just enjoy it and just be led by the inspiration and creativity 💛
I'm so happy that you share so openly, Emily. I've been in the process of writing a post about the privilege of being an artist for a few weeks now, adding words, removing bits. It pretty much comes down to the same thing: having art in your life is for all, but making a full-time living of it is for the privileged few. Especially if you don't have to worry about bills to pay.
As a working class artist (as I call myself), it's been a battle for years to stay afloat. To a point that I didn't want to make art at all anymore. I think your perspective adds so much breathing space for lots of artists.
I've always thought it was okay to have a job next to your art practice, even though some will tell you that it doesn't count. But that's privilege speaking. People who want to gatekeep the art world.
Thank you Marloes, it feels like such a conundrum doesn’t it? I found this piece hard to write because I do want to make a living from my art and I love that others do and think it’s wonderful, but it can be such a struggle too, which can kill our creativity. I look forward to reading your post. 💛💛💛
Just beautiful.. beautiful words spoken from your heart to the heart of your readers or listeners in my case.
I have tears in my eyes .. tears that began to well up as you began the paragraph about “ that’s not the point” for a penny dropped for me as I took in your words.
I am a published author of one memoir and contributed chapters to several inspirational books each one telling a part of my life story, each one written to reach across the world to those who need to hear my words, to know they’re not alone in thinking or feeling as they do and to know they’re loved and accepted.
That’s there is hope in the midst of the seemingly chaotic world they’re living in.
I’m often congratulated for all I’m doing and how successful I am. I thank those who say this but smile inwardly.. as only I know the cavernous gulf between the royalties I receive and the social media impressions they see.. yet I only tell what I’m actually doing and I’m doing a lot to be visible,
I’ve often felt discouraged and disheartened by this gulf .. tonight you’ve righted my thinking .. helped me reframe .. I’m not writing to win a BIBA award - yet I submitted my book , I’m not writing or speaking to rise to the higher echelons of the writing profession.
That’s not the point - I’m writing on here and in my books to tell the secret stories many women carry in their hearts, fearful of speaking their truth for fear of rejection, physical retribution and the subsequent pain that isolation brings.
My words are written to set these prisoners free - that’s the point.
Thank you for reminding me of my purpose .. I needed this.
Oh my goodness Carolyn, thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful words. I’ve been feeling in such a conundrum so writing down my thoughts and getting them straight has helped me, and then hearing the stories from others too has been just amazing. I had no idea this post would get such a response. “My words are written to set these prisoners free, that’s the point”… yes yes so many yesses. Thank you 💛💛💛
Carolyn, it sounds like we have the same purpose for writing. I always say that I write to help other people feel understood and know they're not alone. I'd like to check out your work sometime!
I love and value your honesty. I think what you’ve done is brilliant because you’ve experimented and found the best way for you. Creativity is surely about tapping into our individual needs and carving a path that suits best.
Thank you Hannah. The stories we hear so often share only the successes, but although I used the word failure, I don’t feel like that at all anymore. I feel like there’s still a ‘maybe, one day’ out there, but I’m content to just love what I do and let that be enough 💛
Thank you thank you thank you. 💛 It's so easy for creatives to feel like if our work isn't paying, we're somehow 'failing' or wasting time on it. And yet, the only time creativity is actually a failure is when paying becomes its ONLY point.
In my experience art always sooner or later begins to rebel when put against the pressure of making money from it. It needs attention for the sake of attention. It always happens. Art and money have opposing energies entirely, hence for millenia with millions of examples throughout history art is art, earning money to pay the bills is something else.
I see it only ever being a side thing. I published two non-fiction books via traditional publishing and get royalties from both twice a year and think that’s quite lucky already and don’t chase more than that. Might be more in the future but I never aimed for that in the first place, so immense satisfaction. Both I wrote with passion and intuitively never with even a thought of publishing, just so happened that others picked it up and advised I publish.
Absolutely. Things align when the energy is right and things are created from a place other than obligation or desperation. I have found it all very much relevant. The whole process is so nuanced and complex when it comes to any kind of art 🙏
I’ve never been able to make a living as an artist even when I chose the most marketable skill I had and tried wedding photography. There’s something wrong with our culture when it tells us the only value in art is if there’s a financial exchange. There are so many reasons and ways to create! I make money with my university job and I monetize art here and there, but it barely breaks even. I’ve had a lot of angst about it at different times in my life, but I feel good about it now. Also I’m enchanted by the illustrations you’ve woven in here. Thanks for sharing your art. 🐝
Thank you Sarah, I think there are so many who create alongside other work, but we don’t really talk about it much. I’m glad this has sparked the conversation. I want to embrace all the parts of my life instead of feeling like I have to hide pieces of myself away. I grew to feel resentful of the commissions after a while, because what I really wanted was just to create whatever I was inspired to create so now I’ve decided to say no to anything that I’m not excited and inspired by. 💛
This is just it. Because art is largely a self regulation tool for me it doesn’t work well in a business framework. Especially if the business is tightly niched. I only did commissioned work briefly. I designed one logo for a friend who was easy to work with. The second request was a nightmare and I realized commissions were not for me.
I don't entirely know how to feel about this. On the one hand of course it's alright to not earn a living from an activity you enjoy, you should be allowed to enjoy things without monetizing them. On the other hand, I wish it were easier and more stable to make money as a working artist. As it is we are basically counting on people to work 'proper' jobs and then use their free time and enthusiasm to create things we will enjoy.... Because we do like art, we like seeing it, having it on the products we buy, on the clothing we wear, watching and listening to it, and yet more and more venues for paying artists are shutting down. More and more places are trying to extract every last drop of value from artists while paying them next to nothing for their work. And all this was going on even before we rolled around to this new horror that is Generative AI. Of course, outstanding artists are still able to make a living... But imagine if other jobs were like that? Imagine if you had to be an outstanding banker in order to work in a bank? Or one of the best administrative assistants in the world in order to get an office job? I feel like we need to restructure our attitude towards how we treat artists, especially how much art content we expect to be served for free.
It feels like such a conundrum to me. I absolutely would love to earn a good living from my creativity, on which my family could thrive, and I still hope to achieve that. I am heartbroken that for so many, this isn’t possible. And AI is making it even harder.
yap, it's never been easy and it's getting less and less easy. But I guess we should take heart from the fact that it isn't impossible, we do see people doing it, we should just keep looking for the right angle! As long as we're able, of course. I'm pretty lucky right now that my husband's salary is covering our expenses and I'm acutely aware of the fact that that's a privilege not all will have....
I can relate to this so much as one who has dabbled in many different mediums, had two different Etsy shops, and somehow can't seem to grow anything into a proper business. I came to the realization long ago that I create simply because I must and that if I can one day earn a living through creating it will be an added perk, but it is not the main reason for continuing to create.
This is so lovely, especially the last part about what the point is to all of your creative adventures. 💓 I just wrote a piece about chasing a "dream life" instead of a "dream job" - both can theoretically involve art making but it's so much more freeing to uphold a creative practice just as we envision it without the pressure of making it a career. So I'm right there with you!
Thanks so much Jess. I just read your post - completely agree. I’m glad to have a well paid and secure job that I enjoy, which allows me to indulge my creativity without the pressure of need.
So incredibly relatable, Emily! I'm really glad you were able to try and see that going full time wasn't for you. Also, that decision in itself may not be forever—we might go round and round, from day job to full time and back again depending on the flux of our creative projects! I'm gearing up to quit my job to focus on my art & writing. In my head I'm positioning it as a sabbatical with full awareness that I will likely go back to get another 9 to 5 after a year or so.
Thank you Carolyn, I’m so glad it resonated. I think seeing it as a sabbatical is a brilliant way of looking at it. I tried to look at it as a career break knowing that I could return to employment if needed 💛
Thanks a lot for sharing! It resonates with me a lot. 1,5 years ago I managed to leave a very toxic job at a university and the idea was to devote my time fully to art making, however, I didn't manage to convert it into a job, struggling from creative blocks and a ton of unexpected "life things". I still want to do art as a business, but now I realise that it will be a slower path for me, and at the moment I am again looking for a job in the academia to be able to pay the bills.
I so sorry you had that experience Lisa, I had a similar one where I just wanted to escape from an unpleasant work environment and the desperation was overwhelming. Thankfully I found another accounting job and I can now relax and support my creativity to grow again without the obligation. I would still love to do this full time, and maybe in time, with patience, and doing what I love, it will. I hope that it will for you too 💛💛
Emily, thank you for sharing your experience and how it made you feel. I'm new to Substack, and I'm finding it so refreshing how open and real everyone is here. Everyone isn't just trying to impress and act like they have the perfect life.
I suppose in the eyes of some people, I'm “making it” as a creative, because I've been a corporate copywriter for a decade. And I am lucky to have the job that I have.
However, I'd always imagined copywriting would be a temporary gig. I thought I'd be able to one day make a living as an author and freelance book editor and leave corporate America behind for good. But I've also run into the problem of inconsistency with freelance book editing projects, and, well, the world of book publishing is a beast. So I've had no choice but to stick with my corporate job to pay the bills.
I've been feeling like a failure a lot lately over the realization that my dream may never happen for me, or that if it does, it won't be until much further in the future, and just trying to come to terms with this.
It's comforting to be reminded that it doesn't make you a failure or take away from who you are as a creative. I don't have a lot of other creative people in my life, so when those I'm closest to hear my plans aren't working out, it always feels like there's this unspoken (though sometimes it's spoken) assumption that I must be doing something wrong or not putting in enough work, which is frustrating. It's just nice to be understood.
Welcome to Substack, its lovely to connect with you here. I have found it a great place to be, full of creative and imaginative people. I’m not sure what it is about it, but I’ve felt free to just write and share whatever and whenever I’m inspired, and more freely and openly than I have in other places. Like there’s no need to worry about a formulas or rules.
Im so pleased that my words resonated for you, thank you for your thoughtful comment 💛
This makes me think of Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. She talks about how we so often ask our creativity to support us, when it should be the reverse -- us doing whatever we can to support our creativity.
So true Sarah. I love Big Magic. The first time I read those words had such a powerful impact on me. 💛
I love that book. Thank you for that reminder.
Perhaps you shouldn’t think of it as a fail Lovely, more an epiphany..!
“I write about things that I draw and I draw to accompany things that I write and I share my pictures…”
This speaks volumes to me… it’s a sort of ‘do what you love and love what you do’ moment… and I’ve felt it here too !
Like you I love to be creative, for so many reasons and in myriad ways, cooking, knitting, painting, gardening, photography and writing - all are my passions… I love to spend time on each of those things as often as possible but the moment they have become a job, with deadlines and schedules and yes, that terror of all terrors - administration - I am incapable of even a modicum of interest..!
So I create because I love to, for me, for my friends - no pressure with all the magic and passion I’ve always had..! Just like you… and I think you are wise to have made this discovery too, you are a beautiful artistic brilliant and gifted artist… don’t ever forget it just because it doesn’t pay the bills..!
Lots of love 💗 xx
Thank you so much Susie. For so long I did feel like a failure, I felt like it was greedy and selfish to want to earn a living fr my creativity. How funny that I never felt like that about being an accountant. I don’t feel like a failure any more though. I love what I have been creating and I’m so excited to keep drawing, writing and creating and sharing it here 💛
That’s so good to hear Emily! I love what you do here and I know so many others feel just the same way about you and what you say! X
🥹🥹💛
I really like your perspective on this Susie :)
Thank you so much - Emily has managed to put into such heartfelt words every fear and grievance I have ever had… I’ve thought about this for what feels like forever, especially since joining this lovely Substack community, and no matter how much I’d love to make money from what I love to do best, I know I can’t cope with the reality…
It’s that simple. X
💗
“But I have learned that my inner creativity is fragile and precious. I want to nurture and protect it, I don’t want to destroy it with responsibility and overwhelm it with obligation. I don’t want my creativity to feel like my job.”
I just can’t tell you how much these beautiful words resonate with me. THANK YOU! I thought it was just me who felt this way. When my hobby was only my hobby it brought me so much joy and fulfillment. Then my hobby evolved into insta likes and sales and shows and galleries. Walking into my studio was heavy and that felt like I lost something precious in my life. So I decided at the beginning of this year just to stop everything. From now on I’ll only create for myself and I’ll give some of what I create away as gifts.
Dear Shannon, I’m so pleased to find that others resonate with my words. I was apprehensive of sharing as I think it’s awesome that creatives earn a living from their creativity - but when making money became the point for me and I couldn’t make enough, I almost gave it all up too.
Now, I put things in my shop and no one buys them except my family and the odd person who sees my work online, and that’s actually completely fine - and the joy that I get from giving things away is wonderful! What do you create? Xx
Thank you for sharing this. I so needed to hear it. I am loosing my mojo because what I create is begining to feel like an obligation. I'll have to revisit what I want to do with what I create. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you Klamo, I'm so glad that my words helped. It has felt like such a conundrum and still does, but in the end, I keep reminding myself that creativity is the point and the purpose, everything else is just a side benefit!
I hope you will soon feel more at peace with your decision. The most important thing is that your creativity makes your soul sing. Some are creative in business, some in playing with yarn, some in writing, some... After thinking about it again, I begin to understand that it all becomes a confusing mess if we want to make money from it. Or does this sound confusing? I'm still figuring things out.
I wasn't at peace for a long time, but I think that was because the job I was doing was not working well for me. But now I'm in another role at another company and this feels good. 💛
I'm so glad that you are feeling better !
Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m in a very similar place in my creative journey. I’m trying very hard to not feel guilty because I can’t support myself with my art but instead realize it’s a gift.
Its such a conundrum isn't it Jennifer? I see so many people here and on other social platforms caveating their creativity because they're not a 'successful' artist/illustrator/author and earning a living from their artwork and it breaks my heart. I understand so well wanting it, but actually, letting go a little has helped me to just enjoy it and just be led by the inspiration and creativity 💛
I'm so happy that you share so openly, Emily. I've been in the process of writing a post about the privilege of being an artist for a few weeks now, adding words, removing bits. It pretty much comes down to the same thing: having art in your life is for all, but making a full-time living of it is for the privileged few. Especially if you don't have to worry about bills to pay.
As a working class artist (as I call myself), it's been a battle for years to stay afloat. To a point that I didn't want to make art at all anymore. I think your perspective adds so much breathing space for lots of artists.
I've always thought it was okay to have a job next to your art practice, even though some will tell you that it doesn't count. But that's privilege speaking. People who want to gatekeep the art world.
Thank you for sharing, it means a lot.
Thank you Marloes, it feels like such a conundrum doesn’t it? I found this piece hard to write because I do want to make a living from my art and I love that others do and think it’s wonderful, but it can be such a struggle too, which can kill our creativity. I look forward to reading your post. 💛💛💛
Just beautiful.. beautiful words spoken from your heart to the heart of your readers or listeners in my case.
I have tears in my eyes .. tears that began to well up as you began the paragraph about “ that’s not the point” for a penny dropped for me as I took in your words.
I am a published author of one memoir and contributed chapters to several inspirational books each one telling a part of my life story, each one written to reach across the world to those who need to hear my words, to know they’re not alone in thinking or feeling as they do and to know they’re loved and accepted.
That’s there is hope in the midst of the seemingly chaotic world they’re living in.
I’m often congratulated for all I’m doing and how successful I am. I thank those who say this but smile inwardly.. as only I know the cavernous gulf between the royalties I receive and the social media impressions they see.. yet I only tell what I’m actually doing and I’m doing a lot to be visible,
I’ve often felt discouraged and disheartened by this gulf .. tonight you’ve righted my thinking .. helped me reframe .. I’m not writing to win a BIBA award - yet I submitted my book , I’m not writing or speaking to rise to the higher echelons of the writing profession.
That’s not the point - I’m writing on here and in my books to tell the secret stories many women carry in their hearts, fearful of speaking their truth for fear of rejection, physical retribution and the subsequent pain that isolation brings.
My words are written to set these prisoners free - that’s the point.
Thank you for reminding me of my purpose .. I needed this.
Oh my goodness Carolyn, thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful words. I’ve been feeling in such a conundrum so writing down my thoughts and getting them straight has helped me, and then hearing the stories from others too has been just amazing. I had no idea this post would get such a response. “My words are written to set these prisoners free, that’s the point”… yes yes so many yesses. Thank you 💛💛💛
Thank you for your sharing and encouragement.
Carolyn, it sounds like we have the same purpose for writing. I always say that I write to help other people feel understood and know they're not alone. I'd like to check out your work sometime!
I love and value your honesty. I think what you’ve done is brilliant because you’ve experimented and found the best way for you. Creativity is surely about tapping into our individual needs and carving a path that suits best.
Thank you Hannah. The stories we hear so often share only the successes, but although I used the word failure, I don’t feel like that at all anymore. I feel like there’s still a ‘maybe, one day’ out there, but I’m content to just love what I do and let that be enough 💛
Thank you thank you thank you. 💛 It's so easy for creatives to feel like if our work isn't paying, we're somehow 'failing' or wasting time on it. And yet, the only time creativity is actually a failure is when paying becomes its ONLY point.
Yes, absolutely - you are so right. The only time our creativity is a failure is when money becomes the only point. Could not agree more. 💛
In my experience art always sooner or later begins to rebel when put against the pressure of making money from it. It needs attention for the sake of attention. It always happens. Art and money have opposing energies entirely, hence for millenia with millions of examples throughout history art is art, earning money to pay the bills is something else.
So true Natalia. To me, earning money from my artwork is a side benefit and never the purpose 💛
I see it only ever being a side thing. I published two non-fiction books via traditional publishing and get royalties from both twice a year and think that’s quite lucky already and don’t chase more than that. Might be more in the future but I never aimed for that in the first place, so immense satisfaction. Both I wrote with passion and intuitively never with even a thought of publishing, just so happened that others picked it up and advised I publish.
I love that!! And the conundrum is of course, that when we just create from joy and passion, that others love that too and it shines through 💛
Absolutely. Things align when the energy is right and things are created from a place other than obligation or desperation. I have found it all very much relevant. The whole process is so nuanced and complex when it comes to any kind of art 🙏
I’ve never been able to make a living as an artist even when I chose the most marketable skill I had and tried wedding photography. There’s something wrong with our culture when it tells us the only value in art is if there’s a financial exchange. There are so many reasons and ways to create! I make money with my university job and I monetize art here and there, but it barely breaks even. I’ve had a lot of angst about it at different times in my life, but I feel good about it now. Also I’m enchanted by the illustrations you’ve woven in here. Thanks for sharing your art. 🐝
And thank you for your kind words about my illustrations! I love to fill my letters with illustrations and embellishments - I can’t help myself!! 🤩
Thank you Sarah, I think there are so many who create alongside other work, but we don’t really talk about it much. I’m glad this has sparked the conversation. I want to embrace all the parts of my life instead of feeling like I have to hide pieces of myself away. I grew to feel resentful of the commissions after a while, because what I really wanted was just to create whatever I was inspired to create so now I’ve decided to say no to anything that I’m not excited and inspired by. 💛
This is just it. Because art is largely a self regulation tool for me it doesn’t work well in a business framework. Especially if the business is tightly niched. I only did commissioned work briefly. I designed one logo for a friend who was easy to work with. The second request was a nightmare and I realized commissions were not for me.
I don't entirely know how to feel about this. On the one hand of course it's alright to not earn a living from an activity you enjoy, you should be allowed to enjoy things without monetizing them. On the other hand, I wish it were easier and more stable to make money as a working artist. As it is we are basically counting on people to work 'proper' jobs and then use their free time and enthusiasm to create things we will enjoy.... Because we do like art, we like seeing it, having it on the products we buy, on the clothing we wear, watching and listening to it, and yet more and more venues for paying artists are shutting down. More and more places are trying to extract every last drop of value from artists while paying them next to nothing for their work. And all this was going on even before we rolled around to this new horror that is Generative AI. Of course, outstanding artists are still able to make a living... But imagine if other jobs were like that? Imagine if you had to be an outstanding banker in order to work in a bank? Or one of the best administrative assistants in the world in order to get an office job? I feel like we need to restructure our attitude towards how we treat artists, especially how much art content we expect to be served for free.
It feels like such a conundrum to me. I absolutely would love to earn a good living from my creativity, on which my family could thrive, and I still hope to achieve that. I am heartbroken that for so many, this isn’t possible. And AI is making it even harder.
yap, it's never been easy and it's getting less and less easy. But I guess we should take heart from the fact that it isn't impossible, we do see people doing it, we should just keep looking for the right angle! As long as we're able, of course. I'm pretty lucky right now that my husband's salary is covering our expenses and I'm acutely aware of the fact that that's a privilege not all will have....
I can relate to this so much as one who has dabbled in many different mediums, had two different Etsy shops, and somehow can't seem to grow anything into a proper business. I came to the realization long ago that I create simply because I must and that if I can one day earn a living through creating it will be an added perk, but it is not the main reason for continuing to create.
So true Caitlin - I think looking at it as a an added perk of our creativity is a great perspective to have. Wonderful but incidental 💛
This is so lovely, especially the last part about what the point is to all of your creative adventures. 💓 I just wrote a piece about chasing a "dream life" instead of a "dream job" - both can theoretically involve art making but it's so much more freeing to uphold a creative practice just as we envision it without the pressure of making it a career. So I'm right there with you!
Thanks so much Jess. I just read your post - completely agree. I’m glad to have a well paid and secure job that I enjoy, which allows me to indulge my creativity without the pressure of need.
Thanks! It may not be the most popular or glamorous work/life juggle, but I'm glad I'm not alone in enjoying it! :)
So incredibly relatable, Emily! I'm really glad you were able to try and see that going full time wasn't for you. Also, that decision in itself may not be forever—we might go round and round, from day job to full time and back again depending on the flux of our creative projects! I'm gearing up to quit my job to focus on my art & writing. In my head I'm positioning it as a sabbatical with full awareness that I will likely go back to get another 9 to 5 after a year or so.
Thank you Carolyn, I’m so glad it resonated. I think seeing it as a sabbatical is a brilliant way of looking at it. I tried to look at it as a career break knowing that I could return to employment if needed 💛
Thanks a lot for sharing! It resonates with me a lot. 1,5 years ago I managed to leave a very toxic job at a university and the idea was to devote my time fully to art making, however, I didn't manage to convert it into a job, struggling from creative blocks and a ton of unexpected "life things". I still want to do art as a business, but now I realise that it will be a slower path for me, and at the moment I am again looking for a job in the academia to be able to pay the bills.
I so sorry you had that experience Lisa, I had a similar one where I just wanted to escape from an unpleasant work environment and the desperation was overwhelming. Thankfully I found another accounting job and I can now relax and support my creativity to grow again without the obligation. I would still love to do this full time, and maybe in time, with patience, and doing what I love, it will. I hope that it will for you too 💛💛
Emily, thank you for sharing your experience and how it made you feel. I'm new to Substack, and I'm finding it so refreshing how open and real everyone is here. Everyone isn't just trying to impress and act like they have the perfect life.
I suppose in the eyes of some people, I'm “making it” as a creative, because I've been a corporate copywriter for a decade. And I am lucky to have the job that I have.
However, I'd always imagined copywriting would be a temporary gig. I thought I'd be able to one day make a living as an author and freelance book editor and leave corporate America behind for good. But I've also run into the problem of inconsistency with freelance book editing projects, and, well, the world of book publishing is a beast. So I've had no choice but to stick with my corporate job to pay the bills.
I've been feeling like a failure a lot lately over the realization that my dream may never happen for me, or that if it does, it won't be until much further in the future, and just trying to come to terms with this.
It's comforting to be reminded that it doesn't make you a failure or take away from who you are as a creative. I don't have a lot of other creative people in my life, so when those I'm closest to hear my plans aren't working out, it always feels like there's this unspoken (though sometimes it's spoken) assumption that I must be doing something wrong or not putting in enough work, which is frustrating. It's just nice to be understood.
Welcome to Substack, its lovely to connect with you here. I have found it a great place to be, full of creative and imaginative people. I’m not sure what it is about it, but I’ve felt free to just write and share whatever and whenever I’m inspired, and more freely and openly than I have in other places. Like there’s no need to worry about a formulas or rules.
Im so pleased that my words resonated for you, thank you for your thoughtful comment 💛