Like so many "artists" before (I use quotes since I'm not really one. Or are you one when you declare it? Does someone else have to say it to make it true?), I am discovering the change in my reality as I move from the system to the outside. I'm no longer part of a collective of full time workers. And despite the obvious pitfalls (such as the ever present threat of destitution and fear of becoming shiftless), this is an incredible feeling. Like a freedom I had forgotten existed.
Freelance means every moment is work. Finding gigs, following up on connections, finding creative ways to use whatever talent you have to keep afloat. All structure is self created.
That said, I am starting to wonder how I'll ever go back to the old life...
Stephen King once said, “If you wrote something for which someone sent you a check, if you cashed the check and it didn’t bounce, and if you then paid the light bill with the money, I consider you talented.”
ReplyDeleteI suppose you could replace "talented" with "an artist" if you like. I think once you get paid to do the thing you say you are, then you are that thing.
Why thank you, I very much like that quote...
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