What are you willing to sacrifice for your art? Jennifer Lawrence shared bread with rats.

“That’s when I knew you were serious,” said Jennifer Lawrence’s father.

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I listened to Terry Gross’s interview with Jennifer Lawrence yesterday, and the anecdote about rats in her apartment made me cringe, then chuckle. If you’re an artist, musician, actor, etc., you should listen to it. (29 minutes into the interview.)

Gross: “I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night…”

Lawerence: “Night was horrible, that’s when[ the rats] come out…My dad still talks about it, he said that’s when he knew I was serious [about acting].”

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Most artists are going to have a moment like this. (*1)

Hopefully not that bad, but it’s going to center around a choice of how much crap you are willing to handle, for your art.

Sometimes it’s not worth it, sometimes it is. Only the artist can decide.

Idolizing the myth of the starving artist is dangerous and incorrect–and I recognize I’m dancing on the line here–but I think it’s important for artists to ask themselves, “What are you willing to sacrifice, for your art?”

Jennifer Lawrence was willing to live in a rat-infested apartment the size of a closet, even willing to eat around the holes in her bread that the rats had chewed, to get her first start as an actress in New York.

I’m going to be honest with you, I am not willing to do that. Not one bit.

However, I’ve done some ridiculous things over these years for music. I was willing to sleep in my car during the first tours to avoid hotel fees, when Couchsurfing failed me. In 2013, I showcased at a music conference by Ashville, NC, then drove all night to get to my cousin’s wedding reception in time.

So I ask you musicians some hypotheticals:

Are you willing to limit–even give up completely–alcohol and smoking to be able to sing five nights a week to pay the bills? (*2)

Are you willing to get up at 5 AM to get to drive five hours, arrive for a radio interview, then kill time before the gig that evening?

Are you willing to drive to 45 minutes out of your way to avoid the tolls on the Ohio Turnpike, because it’s still cheaper with gas prices less than $2? Are you still going to figure out how to play that gig when gas is almost at $5?

Are you willing to drive through winter weather to get to your gig?  (*3)

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You are going to make choices as an artist that aren’t pleasant. Sometimes that means doing types of work the hipsters won’t think is cool, but is still you utilizing and developing your art in a marketable way to pay the bills, yet gives you the freedom to say yes to the cool gigs. Take comfort knowing you aren’t alone.

Also take comfort knowing this helps clear the field. Being the last one standing helps with the odds of reaching success.

Artists must answer the question, “What are you willing to do to sacrifice for your art?” and then ask that same question again a month, a year, five years later.

It’s OK if your answer changes, especially if your circumstances do.

The most important thing is to remember, the answer should also enable you to keep creating. Don’t burn out and give up completely; revise the plan.

Share your bread with the rats if you must, but don’t give them your creative dreams, too, when you say no more.

 

Footnote Anecdotes: 
*1 Unless you are well connected or well-off or a child of a famous person. I don’t say that with snark; it’s just true. Use your connections!

I just got through the chapter of Kimberly Freeman‘s essay in Martin Atkin’s first digital copy of Band:Smart (get your copy here). What she was willing to do, where to live, for music–dedication! (She painted a producer’s house to barter getting one of her records finished!)

*2. A talented, touring musician told me he was losing his voice at gigs. He said this as he was finishing his second six pack of beer. I said, “I had to omit alcohol, almost completely, to sing as much as I do.” He said, “Life’s not worth living doing that! I’m not willing to do that.” I know there’s a lot more to unpack there, but right now I’ll ask you the question again: What are you willing to sacrifice for your art?

*3 The worst commute I’ve made was driving 10 to 11 hours to St Catharine’s to play at Paul Federici’s CD Release Show in 2012. (I should have been a four hour drive.) I’m so glad I made it, but now that I’m a father, I recognize I never should have taken that risk against extreme weather. Don’t do it! Cancel a gig when the weather is that bad to live and play another day.

*4 Hat-tip to my friend AJ Noon who just overcame ridiculous hurdles to confirm his next music gig on Carnival Victory cruises, yet has to be away from his friends and family during the holidays to get it. And I quote the Noon, “the life of a stressed out musician sitting upon a throne of pins & needles.” We miss you, man!