Wearing Many Hats, Doing What You Love
Meet TJ Jarrett.
She’s an award winning poet. She is also a computer engineer.
The Atlantic published an intriguing article about how Jarrett choose a path less travelled as a poet; she choose not to be a teacher.
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Jarrett’s example of wearing one hat to pay the bills and another hat to sustain her art is a common story, that’s often misunderstood. Can you call yourself a professional, if you don’t fully pay all of your bills with your art?
I would argue, “absolutely.”
And, you might be making more “artistically creative” stuff if you are free to worry about having investors (labels, etc) interfering.
As artists, writers, or musicians, it’s easy to get caught up with how the bills are paid on a weekly and monthly basis, but there isn’t a formula to what a real creative career looks like.
A real creative career is simply a person who is making art they are proud of producing. What’s more important is how much time we have to dedicate to our art; and how we use that time.
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This is the misconception about why I left the public school sector. Many assume I didn’t like teaching.
I loved the teaching part, but after 10 years of teaching experiences within public schools, I knew I would never have a life outside of my job. The essay grading, lesson planning, and extra parts of teaching we a second job outside of the classroom.
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Now, my life as a musician is much different. I used to live by school bells; now I live by guitar notes.
I still teach to make a portion living of my living. The difference is my part time teaching job (music instruction) allows for me to have time to practice and write. My gigging schedule allows for this, too.
In my thirties, I have finally found a balance I wish I had in my twenties.
As artists, it’s important to stay dedicated to our craft. That dedication might mean making money in other ways. The key is to find the ways that don’t eat up every minute of our lives.
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