Hey artists.
I’m short $40 for something relatively important And I’m panicked. Should I take it out of my investment account? The kids college fund. Take 80 online surveys?
It’s pretty humiliating and the only thought in my head is how to get out of this situation.
This is the wrong thought.
I’ve been humiliated before. Couple times. In person. This makes the comments section less abrasive but it also sometimes makes me more cautious. To my detriment. But I digress.
I feel that we often do this as artists. Unexpected expenses come up, or we have a terrible day at a ”survival“ job and we start to think about anything ANYTHING that we can make or sell to get us out. We are technically skilled, there has to be something we can make right now to get us out of the bind.
I don’t want to judge this. Many of these worries are real. But; if losing your perspective becomes a habit. If instead of making art to change the world, you become solely focused on the paycheck; you will lose inspiration. You won‘t want to make art as much and suddenly there is no joy and you want to quit.
I don’t have a quick fix for this. All I can do is be aware of it. In you . In me.
Art has to be about something more. It’s too hard to do it just for a paycheck.
E