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Q: "Is art my career or my hobby?"

After years of being an “artist” I’ve come to the conclusion that trying to figure out what your art is just ends up causing problems.

This is because, as I’ve come to understand it, art is really about exploring who we are. And trying to solidly define who you are is a zero sum game. You’re complicated. You’re always changing as time passes. You will never fit in a box. So why would your art?

It’s an extension of you, after all.

But we beat ourselves up over what our creativity should be. Whether you’re ultimately craft or career focused, it often ends up in the same place - staring at a blank page, driven to make something, but guilty and stressed nothing is coming out.

Art Is Sensitive

The first mistake is putting too much pressure on what your art should be.

Creativity is often very counterintuitive. The more we try to chase it or define it the more it tends to elude us. And that’s where most of the burnout, guilt, feeling lazy, and hating what we make comes from.

We set unrealistic expectations of what should happen - then we get mad when reality didn’t line up with those unrealistic expectations. And at this point, I’m thoroughly convinced art is bigger than hobbies and money.

It’s part of who you are. Making things should be an expression of joy and excitement, not another tool we use to belittle ourselves. You need to take a deep breath, breath out slowly, and stop putting expectations on your creative output.

If your expectations are what’s causing the problem? Drop the expectations.

Art Is A Journey

Just like you’ll never stop being you - you’ll never stop being an artist.

I picked up my first pencil to draw dinosaurs at 3. I then convinced myself I wasn’t an artist for the next 20+ years - until by accident I started making money from my work. Before that I just kept regular jobs/went to school.

Looking back I now realize I never really stopped being an artist. I was just pretending to not be one. The entire time I was at my day job or university I was also spending every lunch break daydreaming about building my sci-fi universe or doodling orcs during class time.

Those moments were the real me.

I bet if you look at your life you’ll find similar patterns. Creativity littered all throughout your life. Periods of ideas pouring out of you as well as long spells of artistic doldrums - but always finding your way back to it. Always staying in it’s orbit.

Before art was my career? I took huge breaks from it, some up to a year long. Other times I was enraptured with creativity and wrote entire music albums in a month.

It won’t leave you. Because it IS you.

Art Doesn’t Need Defining

Society and humans love to put things in boxes. Civilization is built on neat categories. But art and creativity are not neat. It’s usually messy and hard to define. That’s where all this disconnect and discomfort comes from.

You’re trying to define the undefinable. Of course it makes you crazy.

You circle art, because you’re meant to be near it. Because it’s not a hobby or career. It’s a part of who you are. There is no need to fight with how it should feel. Just let it be what it needs to be, because it’s not going anywhere.

And if it does? That’s fine. It wasn’t for you. If the excitement follows you? Hell yeah. Be an artist. That’s cool too. Whether it’s meant to be a hobby or a job doesn’t matter. Either is fine. Just give yourself permission to create or not create - and truly mean it.

Because if you are an artist? Fighting what it should be is just fighting yourself.

And you’re not going to win that one.

Peace and love,
​Brosatsu