I don't have an easy road. I wasn't gifted with math and perfect studying abilities (despite my smarts). I would rather staple gun my hand to a squirrel with rabies than work in an office again. I'm not cut out for a normal life because I'm not, in fact, normal.
Normal.
It means different things to different people. For a person who works a 9-5 job their world might be very interesting and perhaps compared to their group of friends, what they do isn't 'normal'. But for my definition not normal means you didn't fit into most groups as a kid until you went to high school and MAYBE realized that your love for all geek and nerd things weren't just you--there were a few others! You don't do well with 'normal' jobs. You think of art in terms of a career. You make your passions your career. The thought of wearing a suit or dress clothes to a 9-5 office makes you have panic attacks.
I'm not normal. I never was and I never will be. I've embraced it. I'm glad I'm weird. As the saying goes, "polite women rarely make history". I refuse to not travel this world quietly. I kind of can't. I'm Irish. Talking is genetically coded into my DNA. Being an artist (of any sort) isn't something you just wake up and decide to do. It's something that's been in you since the day atoms collided to form you. You can't escape it. Whether its the deep love of food, dance, music, art, writing, sculpting....its something you were always drawn to because that's what you ARE.
I didn't chose an easy life. But I wouldn't want to be anything else. I wouldn't want to wake up everyday not filled to the brim with ideas, voices, thoughts, colors, and music. That the littlest thing could inspire something great in me that could then inspire something great in someone else. That's all I want. To inspire. To let people know their not alone.
One thing I love about being an artist is that I'm actually very varied. What I lack in study abilities and math/science I make up for in being very good in many different art fields. And those fields bleed into each other. I love that if I'm working on a song on my Ukulele I'll suddenly be inspired by a note for a story or drawing. I love that when I write it can inspire me to make a comic. I love that I'm not regaled to just ONE aspect of art. I may not be the end-all be-all of a specific art form, but I'm good enough at several that I'm constantly creating something. Anything.
It's not easy life. It doesn't always make money. It doesn't always guarantee a safe future. But dammit, it sure makes for an interesting life filled with human experiences and emotions. It's a world of color and light and music. It's a world of darkness, fear, lonilness and frustration. But it is, in fact, one of the best and most rewarding ways to experience life. For that I'm grateful for all the good and bad. After all, it IS the Artist's Life.
Normal.
It means different things to different people. For a person who works a 9-5 job their world might be very interesting and perhaps compared to their group of friends, what they do isn't 'normal'. But for my definition not normal means you didn't fit into most groups as a kid until you went to high school and MAYBE realized that your love for all geek and nerd things weren't just you--there were a few others! You don't do well with 'normal' jobs. You think of art in terms of a career. You make your passions your career. The thought of wearing a suit or dress clothes to a 9-5 office makes you have panic attacks.
I'm not normal. I never was and I never will be. I've embraced it. I'm glad I'm weird. As the saying goes, "polite women rarely make history". I refuse to not travel this world quietly. I kind of can't. I'm Irish. Talking is genetically coded into my DNA. Being an artist (of any sort) isn't something you just wake up and decide to do. It's something that's been in you since the day atoms collided to form you. You can't escape it. Whether its the deep love of food, dance, music, art, writing, sculpting....its something you were always drawn to because that's what you ARE.
I didn't chose an easy life. But I wouldn't want to be anything else. I wouldn't want to wake up everyday not filled to the brim with ideas, voices, thoughts, colors, and music. That the littlest thing could inspire something great in me that could then inspire something great in someone else. That's all I want. To inspire. To let people know their not alone.
One thing I love about being an artist is that I'm actually very varied. What I lack in study abilities and math/science I make up for in being very good in many different art fields. And those fields bleed into each other. I love that if I'm working on a song on my Ukulele I'll suddenly be inspired by a note for a story or drawing. I love that when I write it can inspire me to make a comic. I love that I'm not regaled to just ONE aspect of art. I may not be the end-all be-all of a specific art form, but I'm good enough at several that I'm constantly creating something. Anything.
It's not easy life. It doesn't always make money. It doesn't always guarantee a safe future. But dammit, it sure makes for an interesting life filled with human experiences and emotions. It's a world of color and light and music. It's a world of darkness, fear, lonilness and frustration. But it is, in fact, one of the best and most rewarding ways to experience life. For that I'm grateful for all the good and bad. After all, it IS the Artist's Life.
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