On May 1st, 1992, 31 years ago, I was doodling on a tablet while taking notes and drew the attached drawing. I’m not sure if I was intending that to be a note for myself right then or for future me. Either way here I am 31 years later looking at the drawing and reading the words in the dialogue bubble, “Don’t Quit.” I do feel a bit of encouragement and happy that I’m still being creative to this day.
It’s not always easy to live the “creative life” let alone a #FullTimeCreativeLife. So many times, in my life people have thrown around the phrase “real job.” They also feel the need to make sure I know THEIR definition of the word “respectable.” Just the other day, I was talking to someone about how I have worked some really terrible day jobs. I still have rough days and rough seasons of the creative life. The difference is that no matter how bad it get, it is still so much better than dredging away at a “day job”, completing tasks for nothing more than a paycheck.
I do not embrace the employee mentality of working hard in exchange for money and a couple of weeks off each year to do something I want to do. I’m not sure if I want to call my life the creative life or what I’ve heard other people say when they call it the entrepreneurs life. Mostly it’s doing something you like that gives you a different state of mind.
The employee state of mind is kind of a dreamer’s state of mind. Dreaming about wanting to do something and constantly uttering the phrase “I’ll do this someday.” Where as the entrepreneur’s life involves them working on something they love each day instead of working towards possibly doing that “thing” in the future.
Whatever it is called, I’m not working for the weekend or vacation. I’m working for me. I’m working for my physical and mental health. I’m working for spiritual peace each day. I am embracing the needs of my inner child while fulfilling the duties of my outer adult. I am living a chosen life with deliberate daily actions. I did not fall into this life by accident or by luck, nor did I get her by failing at something else. I chose this path after learning the hard way that the employee life was not for me.
I’m not trying to tell you what kind of life you need to live but I do want to encourage you to make sure the one you’ve chosen is best for you. If you find yourself somewhere that you don’t want to be, it’s not too late to change course. It may take a lot of work and many years but changing course is possible if you want to leave the “employee” life behind.
Find the best path for you and “Don’t Quit!”
