Remember when Rihanna dropped (please) 'Don't Stop The Music'... Well mamasae mamasa mamakusa, no truer words were ever spoken.
At a young age, most of us start to figure out what we're good at, or alternatively we're told what we're not good at. Which probably explains why most of us can't draw anything beyond a brick house with chimney smoke, a curly leafed tree and a sun sporting Ray-Bans (top right corner).
When we find that one thing though, most of us decide to use this as our best offering to the world around us. I chose music/songwriting, but there's been many years spent trying to un-choose it.
As an artist resisting the urge to feel validated by the conventional model of success, I'm conflicted by the messiness of creativity versus survival. As creative sorts, the dream is full time employment in your creative field, but more often than not plan A looks a whole lot more like pulling midnight pints whilst beavering away on the side (at least until one outweighs the other). But I think it's okay if plan A looks like any number of part time/full time jobs, so long as they're intertwined with an ongoing dedication to an art form. Plan A is a vessel few sail well. The temptation, steadiness and reliability of a plan B means we lose a lot of artists overboard.
If you're still reading, you're probably serious about your art, dreams and creating a legacy that will outlast you. So my encouragement to all artists out there would be to commit to not stopping. Commit to plan A, whatever that looks like. Resist the temptation of a plan B. Put all your eggs in one proverbial basket.
Embrace the unconventional journey, the sacrifices incurred, the house you may never afford, the career with no ladders, periodic rejection, bewilderment from family, jealousy of peers (yours or theirs) and the unquantifiable measure of progress and success.
If we're not prepared to absorb the ongoing costs of our art, we must be content living out plan B. And if you want a life defined by your plan A but feel rudderless in your pursuit, I found this video really helpful!
If nothing else, just trust the chick with the 90's lip liner and Ice Cube when they said "Don't Stop (Get It Get It)".