Why Does It Always Have To Be Either/Or?

To pursue our passions, especially an artistic endeavor, we sometimes assume we have to sacrifice financial stability.

We assume that a job stifles our creativity and holds us back from doing what we really want to do. But sometimes a job — and the paycheck that comes with it — can serve as a bridge.

It can help us forge our own path to practice our craft. Life doesn’t have to be either/or. Sometimes the right answer can be both/and.

By: Farnoosh Torabi, in her newsletter “Pursue Your Passion, Keep the Paycheck”

I found out Farnoosh Torabi when I was watching one of the Financial Diet’s YouTube videos “ Money Expert Farnoosh Torabi On Protecting Your Finances, Leaving The City, & Outearning Her Husband”. Farnoosh was the guest speaker of their podcast as a female journalist and money expert who has coached so many young Americans on their financial independence journey. I have been following Financial Diet’s YouTube content a lot, mainly because 2021 was a year of revisiting my priorities and one of them is my personal finances. Chelsey enlightened me a lot in so many ways. So, this YouTube’s title caught my attention because it is really outrageous — especially the last part “Outearning Her Husband”. How badass she is I thought. If you find this interesting as I do, go watch their content. It is very educational and very entertaining at the same time.

Going back to the topic of the discussion, her point of view of being practical in pursuing your creative endeavors while maintaining your day job made sense to me a lot. Especially, in this world, we keep hearing a lot of creative people leaving the corporate world once they made a successful career in being creative. Although we cannot deny the fact that they have also worked so hard in order for them to get there, being an independent creative individual earning money from what they create is not everyone’s cup of tea. Not everyone can become successful to get there and not everyone should be a content creator, in my opinion.

However, it always made me feel like whatever I do for my own art won’t have any value — mainly because I do not make living out of it.

I used to keep downplaying myself and underestimating my capabilities because I do not have any confidence to leave my corporate job and try to live with just “being creative”. But I always forget the fact that “Life doesn’t have to be either/or. Sometimes the right answer can be both/and. “ as Farnoosh mentioned. Yes, my art is not something I can monetize or my work is not something related to art at all — but, it does not mean what I create does not have any value. Knowing the fact that few people acknowledge what I share online gave them some sort of inspiration — this gave me the drive I need in order to keep creating. I finally made peace with myself that it is completely fine to continue creating art while simply keeping the job with me for a paycheck, for my finances, and for my survival. I do not have to sell my security, stability, and sanity in the name of “pursuing my passion”.

Pursuing passion does not have to be connected directly to a job by any means.

This phrase gave me so much reassurance. This has opened so many doors for me that maybe I can try again to enjoy the creative processes. Then, I suddenly thought — maybe I can pick up my hobby again in dancing, maybe I can start writing and self-publish my book ( which I did), and maybe I can start learning new forms of art like watercolor. By the way, I am about to reach my 30s. Because no one said otherwise that you should stop pursuing your passion once you hit a certain age. I tell myself that I can always challenge myself and expose myself to new experiences as much as I can.

I might hear people saying if devoting myself to creating art is worth it if I am not making money out of it. I will ask them whether being on social media 24/7 and watching Netflix have helped them to create more wealth. I am trying to be open-minded here that sometimes social media helps us to get inspired and to get some new ideas and information; watching Netflix might have helped us relax our stressed minds and gain satisfaction by being entertained by the shows. These are all valid. So as creating art.

I find more joy in being an active participant in the actual making process. Rather than being an observer of those events.

And if being employed will help me to achieve that without any worries about my financial situation, then I would rather just stay and be “creative” in finding my own time and ways to be able to work on my craft.

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Originally published at https://erinne0217.wordpress.com on July 22, 2022.