Choosing to Find Happiness Through Artistic Freedom

I’d be lying if I said that I actually believed I might have been happy working for someone else for the rest of my life. I’d gotten the hint in middle school the rigidity of that schedule—of any schedule—bored me to pieces. To clarify things, just in case this matters to you, I did okay in school. I wasn’t a troublemaker, late, or out sick all the time. I just hated the idea of having to be somewhere at a set time every day. I hated knowing that on every Thursday at 1pm for basically the whole year I’d be in Algebra (or something. School was a long time ago. I definitely don’t remember any of my actual class schedules decades later). I liked learning though and honestly I wouldn’t have wanted to be at home anyway … but I was not a fan of the routine.

It was probably just doubt that made me give it the old try and go to college. There at least I could make my own schedule and pick classes I liked. Sometimes I could even chose not to go to class if it was one of those days when I couldn’t summon the emotional strength to get out of bed to be in another room full of people. I learned a lot of useful things there, but I knew that nothing that I really cared about was actually something you needed to go to school for. As far back as I can remember, I’ve been an artist and I knew that I would never truly be happy until I could make a living doing that. Obviously, you can learn different techniques in a classroom, but the only way you actually get better is by practice. Like any trade, you put in the time until you can solve the problems on your own. [I know, I said there would be a secret phrase. I should hide it better, but I still haven’t nailed down all of our contest rules. Our April contest phrase will be ~solve the problem~ punctuation doesn’t matter and spelling only matters a little because humans make mistakes and that way, I will know you are real. In real life spelling matters though, but I am fully aware that I am terrible at it]

I’ve heard a lot of people say that the secret to happiness is doing what you love. My answer for that would be making things that other people can find enjoyment in. Making the perfect breakfast sandwich, fixing a broken piece of equipment at work, carving and printing the perfect linocut : All of these can accomplish that. 

I’ve also heard people say that the secret to success in business is finding a problem that you can provide the solution for. I found two very unrelated avenues that I think my work can provide a pleasant enhancement for. So in the next couple of weeks I’m going to explore those in more depth. I’m going to do some of research and build two different portfolios. Then I’ll share all of my tragically heartbreaking rejections as well as my successes. If there are other artists out there, I hope that my adventures can be at least a little helpful for you.