#8 The Importance of Talking To Yourself
A conversation with myself on whether I should quit my job, and pursue making a living 'making' full-time.
Will relying on art & creativity for my living lead to burnout and me quitting?
Maybe. You'll only know when you try. But you're very aware of the importance of balance in your life.
Is this irresponsible?
It's something you've been working towards for 9 years now. You have savings and a backup plan. What's irresponsible is spending your life doing something you don't want to be doing.
Is it even possible to make a living through art?
It definitely looks like it; other people are certainly managing to. There are examples out there - you even know some personally.
Yeah right - but can I make a living through art?
Who knows? Again, you'll only know if you try. But you're a hard worker, with good discipline and good systems in place. If not you, then who? Plus - you'll regret it forever if you don't try.
I don't think I'm good enough yet, though.
That might be the case, but that's part of this journey. You're also going to balance studying and creating - so you're factoring in time solely to get better at your craft. Do you think you'll come to a miraculous point where you look at yourself and think "Okay, now I'm good enough?"
Maybe it's not a great time... Maybe I should save up more.
Right now is the best time. Your cost of living will only increase as your responsibilities go up. There's no perfect moment.
The bottom line: if you don't do this - all the way, now - you'll be miserable, unsatisfied and regretful. You'll always wonder - what if?
Do it. Good luck.
I wrote the above in May 2023. It was the result of an exercise I learnt from Kyle Webster's Substack, The Accidental Expert - cancelling worrying thoughts out by balancing them with hard facts.
I'm leaving my job to pursue making things and getting better at my craft. This is my last week at my full-time job as a motion graphics designer, so it felt right to share this.
It seems like a lot of my answers are a variation of “Maybe…you should try it and find out!”. I hope I’ll be able to return to this in a year’s time and provide some more concrete answers.
I'll write more, soon!
Ingest:
The Box Assassin - Jeremy Schaefer - This is so dang good. Can you believe it was a student film? A goal of mine is to make something at this level of quality in this next period of creation.