Public Service Announcement
So, over the last year or so, I’ve received some iteration of the following statement countless times: “Oh, but you’re such a talented musician, it’d be a shame for you to give it up!”
This really bothers me for a number of reasons. I’d like to lay them out for any other creative souls that feel the same way or anyone who has ever had the above thought.
1) My skill level aside, I am a musician because I choose to be. It’s something I’m good at that gets me paid. You do not have a right to tell me how and when I should have a particular career. I’m the one who put in the countless hours over the last 15 years to do what it is I do today. I get to decide what’s worth it and what isn’t, not you.
2A) Being in a creative field is HARD. I’d hazard a guess that 8/10 creative types don’t have a steady creative job. Most of us are freelancers, getting gigs where we can or setting up a table at conventions, opening an online store...we put in an amazing amount of time looking for and securing gigs that, to be honest, don’t usually pay what we want.
2B) the EMOTIONAL TAX of this life is grueling. In addition to always looking out for the next gig, our success isn’t measured in numbers. It’s measured in arbitrary opinions. And if you’re really good, I think most people would agree that you are, but even then a great musician can be in the wrong place and no one will care. That takes a toll after a while.
3) Like any interpersonal relationship, working as a creative type is only worth it so long as you are fulfilled at the end of the week. Some people need an amount of applause, others need money, others need both, some people just need a stage to make a statement. But if we put all this time and energy into getting opportunities to receive what it is we need, and then we don’t get that, it’s exhausting and it could mean we have to end our “relationship” with our medium of choice.
4) I’m a musician. There are hundreds of millions of musicians. As nice as it would be to be a celebrity because of it, I don’t owe it to anyone to do so. I get to make up my own mind about what I want out of music, not you.
5) I don’t owe you a song. I make music for different purposes as I see fit: some are to help me get over a breakup, some are to help me phrase big questions I have about death, some are just sugary pop songs I wrote because I had a neat turn-of-phrase. But just because I am capable of writing a song doesn’t mean I can or will write one for you.
tl;dr Let musicians and other creative types make their own damn life decisions and stop insisting you know our value or our goals.
