I wish all artists could be part-time artists. When your greatest passion becomes your main source of income, and it’s an unreliable one like art professions (let’s be honest, right?), creativity can become forced, and (real) creativity can get lost.
But I wish all professional-everything-elses could be part-time artists, too. When you get too wrapped up in one thing all the time, even if it’s what you love, small-picture perspective can become skewed, and big-picture perspective can get lost.
Now, this is not to say I think art is a silly profession. No, no, not at all! Do I believe artists should be paid well for their work? Absolutely, I do! Do I believe that people should take their work seriously? Absolutely, I do! But things are off-kilter in this fine, freedom-loving country of ours.
Full-time artists work overtime and burn out. And full-time non-artists look at “extra-curriculars” as inaccessible because of the demands of their day jobs… and burn out.
So what should we do? Stop demanding so much of ourselves, and remember we are humans. We have basic needs (food, water, shelter) and emotional needs (to create, to reflect, to express). Let’s not forget either.
