Because I Want To
Being the daughter of an entrepreneur, it's hard for me to accept that I might work for someone else forever. The idea of being beholden to someone else or a company for eight hours a day has never sat well with me.
Recently, I've been really thinking about what I'm sacrificing personally by trying to turn the things that I love into money.
When money became the full focus of my writing, for example, writing became a chore.
Once upon a time, I was a professional photographer as well. I loved, and still love, shooting street photography, landscapes, and portraits. When I turned that hobby into money, it was fun at first, but then it also became a chore.
When someone would ask me to shoot their event, I would reluctantly say yes, knowing that I didn't really want to be at that event that night.
In the next week, I will be changing day jobs.
This new day job has a regular schedule, which means I can plan more fun and exciting things to do. I can plan a trip strictly for taking film photos without having to worry about selling those prints to recoup my expenses. I can plan writers’ retreats for myself and my writing friends with the understanding that if I leave having only done a series of writing exercises, it’s okay.
Going forward, I'm going to keep practicing the art of not putting pressure on myself to sell everything that I make.
Instead, I am going to measure the success of a creative project by how much joy I got from it. This will be my primary measurement. All financial success from projects will be secondary.
I feel incredibly lucky that I can do this and not have to worry about my creative endeavors making the majority of my income. I'm lucky to have a day job. I'm incredibly lucky to have this new opportunity which will allow me to make plans and explore and live a little more because I work eight hours a day.
We choose our experiences, and we choose our prisons. I will no longer be a prisoner of my desire for ultimate freedom. Instead, I will embrace the freedom of having structure and stability. And I will exploit all of those freedoms to the fall as long as I can.
How About You?
Have you been struggling with the desire to be an entrepreneur and a creative person? What have you been thinking about? Have you landed on a new plan for yourself? I'd love to hear. Leave a comment below.