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brushwolfI ran into this on Twitter while looking at articles on creative writing. It's a happy, cheery, follow-your-bliss thing. And like you'd expect from anyone using the term passion, Holstee turns out to be a company selling stuff for people above my income bracket. We live in an age where "passion," "change," "challenge," "leadership," "hope," "family" and "positive" are all someone's buzzwords. Maybe it's always been this way.
And there's more. Maslow's hierarchy of human needs is a very real thing. A lot of misery and not-following-your-bliss comes out of the need to pay the rent and the bills. A lot of following your bliss has to do with being able to pay for education about how to do some of the technical aspects of your bliss. And when you're pretty badly hit by psychological or physical problems, following your bliss might be 'way more energy and money than you can manage. A lot of people can't make the choice of dropping their food service/loading dock/warehouse/office/whatever jobs to open the restaurant/write an amazing new novel/code up an amazing new program/play Delta blues/whatever. "Go out and start creating, live your dream and share your passion" is a position of privilege. And I know very well I'm writing this from a position of envy.
Here's where I think there's a catch. "Go out and start creating, live your dream and share your passion" is not actually bad advice. I think that more people have that position of privilege than they think - for all I know, I might. I think most of us aren't very good at gauging where we need to give up and hold off, and where we can go follow our blisses.
That's all I wanted to say.
And there's more. Maslow's hierarchy of human needs is a very real thing. A lot of misery and not-following-your-bliss comes out of the need to pay the rent and the bills. A lot of following your bliss has to do with being able to pay for education about how to do some of the technical aspects of your bliss. And when you're pretty badly hit by psychological or physical problems, following your bliss might be 'way more energy and money than you can manage. A lot of people can't make the choice of dropping their food service/loading dock/warehouse/office/whatever jobs to open the restaurant/write an amazing new novel/code up an amazing new program/play Delta blues/whatever. "Go out and start creating, live your dream and share your passion" is a position of privilege. And I know very well I'm writing this from a position of envy.
Here's where I think there's a catch. "Go out and start creating, live your dream and share your passion" is not actually bad advice. I think that more people have that position of privilege than they think - for all I know, I might. I think most of us aren't very good at gauging where we need to give up and hold off, and where we can go follow our blisses.
That's all I wanted to say.
Well...
Date: 2012-03-13 08:10 am (UTC)It can also be a position of desperation or plain lack of choice. Plenty of people do that because they can't do anything else. Doesn't matter if they get paid for it or not, or can support themselves or not.
Not everyone's stack of needs is stacked in exactly the same order. Some people will accept any amount of torment for the sake of, say, food and shelter. Some people will give up food, shelter, and at least theoretical safety for freedom.
Re: Well...
Date: 2012-03-14 03:31 pm (UTC)Re: Well...
Date: 2012-03-14 06:24 pm (UTC)You might consider teaming up with someone for that part. Frex, a writer good at marketing might be willing to barter that skill for illustrations.
>>Just yesterday I was talking to my friends about blowing off being a responsible adult to do work instead, and at some level it's obvious that I am just as happy doing something I truly want as I am working at something which is a better paycheck to enable doing things I want. <<
The world has changed, but cultural assumptions haven't caught up. Many people are shut out of the job market and told it's their fault when it isn't. Around here there are places that can't get enough employees -- because there aren't that many people within immediate range, and the job pays so little that nobody can afford to drive to it.
There used to be a lot of emphasis on "Don't quit your day job." Now I keep raising the question, "What do you do when the day job quits you?" I know a lot of people who are doing creative work because it's something they still have access to, a way to make some kind of money when there's no other work available. Or because they were doing it all along, and it's what was left after the day job quit them.
>>But if this is spreading my wings to fly, I really, really wish the ground beneath my wings were closer and better padded.<<
The society is a disgrace. It's stripping all the social safety networks and rediscovering all the marvelous disasters those were created to prevent.
We haven't had a regular job in this household for over 4 years now. The largest supply of earned income is from my poetry, in a culture that generally considers it impossible to make money from poetry. If this were spending money, it would be successful beyond my wildest dreams. As a household budget, it's nowhere near enough; but it's what we have, the most successful of various endeavors.