To live a life as an artist is to constantly live a double life.
This is true for many vocations, but it resonates most closely with the pursuit of art.
Not everyone associates their identity with their career or job, even if they are the CEO of a company, they may see themselves as a father first, or perhaps a marathoner.
When trying to make a living off of art however, the first rule of thumb is don’t quit your day job.
Making a living off of art is arguably one of the most challenging things to do.
So in order to allow yourself a life to create art, you may spend a lot of time doing something else that you don’t want to do, and “hopefully” after enough long hours you’ll be able make a living off of it.
While this happens, you may find yourself living a double life, sometimes even a triple or a quadruple life.
You might wake up and spend your whole day filing taxes, and analyzing financial transactions for your company so that you can get home and paint from five to ten pm.
Or you might spend the morning writing songs and have to clock in sometime in the evening to write down orders at the restaurant you work.
You may even have a third hustle, passion, or sometimes obligation that makes it feel like you’re constantly in motion.
A double life is hard to manage, especially when it comes to expectations.
But the positive with double lives, is that when one is not fully resonating with you, you have another purpose to recall yourself to.
The switch can feel tiresome, but it can also feel incredibly liberating.
As an artist, they are almost essential to one another. To be constantly consumed in your own art, you may as well lose touch with the greater society, becoming unrelatable.
The unique aspect about a job is that it isn’t a curse, rather a necessary constraint that boosts your creativity and connection with yourself as well with the world.
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