WHY I’M STILL IN A DAY JOB (And LOVING IT)
I spent probably way too much time rambling about why I appreciate my day job in today's vlog. Here's the too-long-didn't-watch synopsis (and some more rambling in text-form beyond):
My day job provides me with the stability and flexibility I need to do my best artistic work at this time in my life.
The fact that I have a day job doesn't make me any less of an artist or any less successful as an artist (maybe it calls into question my ability as a business owner but that's not what I'm choosing to focus on today, lol... see point above).
My day job is my best patron because it allows me to make the art I love to make.
These are all things that I truly believe... as someone who has always had a very rocky relationship with any and every job she's ever held, it feels really amazing to be able to say these things with conviction and gratitude.
Something else I didn't mention in the video is that this past Fall I got a strong message that I needed to make peace with my day job if I was ever going to be able to successfully and finally leave the obligation of having said day job behind.
At the time I thought this meant that if I can reach zen-level status while interacting with and doing my day job, I'll finally have an opportunity to quit.
Instead, I'm finding just how much freedom and satisfaction I DO have in my life, WITH my day job, rather than wasting SO much time and energy chafing under the "burden" of it. I'm also letting go of the Internet Comparison Machine's messages that I'm a failure if I'm not solopreneuring my dream life.
All of this is adding up to a life and a journey I'm really enjoying, for what feels like the first time in my almost-33-years.
It seems super obvious now that I say it out loud, but by gosh by golly was I determined not to see it.
I was afraid that if I “settled” for a day job, I’d become complacent. That if I kept a day job, I would stop pushing myself. That if I stayed in a day job, I would never reach my “full potential.”
And it turns out, none of that is true.
Maybe doing life on my own terms includes a day job. And that’s more than ok.
I hope this was somehow edifying and helpful and encouraging to you, too, in whatever mundanity you find yourself in! Life is amazing!! May you enjoy the crap out of it.
