Last summer Jessica Amos invited me to share a story on her lovely and thoughtful site Stay With Yourself. While we often see and hear the awesome things about living life as a freelance creative, choosing this path isn’t without its pitfalls. It can be stressful, depressing, and downright uninspiring at times. On the flip side, when you’re completely immersed in something that you love, you can have one of the greatest days of your life.
When I read Miya Tokumitsu’s In The Name of Love or, what I like to call Her Offensive Piece on Slate, she never mentions any of the struggles, doubts, fear, and uncertainty that many people go through when they choose the path that could (NOTE: “COULD”) lead them to incredibly meaningful work. She doesn’t talk about the risks that people take to pursue their dreams, or mention the people who weren’t given a loft in Brooklyn so they could do their art while their parents foot the bill. I have given up a lot financially to pursue my dreams, and frankly oftentimes it sucks not to have a reliable, steady income that you can count on.
Do I get to spend my days focused on work that I love? Yes. Do I always have enough money to pay my bills without “borrowing” from other sources? No. Are there times that I wish I was working for someone else that dealt with all of the administrative and business development work so I could focus on the creative side? Absolutely.
This is the part that Miya Tokumitsu missed in her piece. We often build something for ourselves because we HAVE to. We can’t NOT do what we love. I mean, we can, but then we’re miserable. If our dream job isn’t out there (or we haven’t found it yet) we’re driven to try to create it, even if that comes with great sacrifices.
Here’s my story for Stay With Yourself. I’d love to hear from other creatives who feel this way too.