im different than alot of my friends, people i went to school with. i didnt major in sociology for the money certainly, and money never was a factor in choosing a job. it still isnt. i can live on very little money. getting paid isnt the issue. i would rather starve in the streets, go years penniless, in some mission, or out in the streets, and still follow my convictions and ideals, than be rich and have a job i hate.
if i struggled to pay the rent for years as an artist, painter, writer, that to me actually would be infinitely better than my life currently. THATS living life.
i could personally care less about being the next Van Gogh, or John Steinbeck. I merely want to express feelings and emotions that i have. and i'd like to get paid for it obviously, but if i was paid mere cents for it, i'd be a happy man.
As hesse said, I merely wanted to live my life according to my ideals and ethics. why was that so hard?
im also willing as i said, unlike alot of folks, to put my career on the line and my livelihood to achieve my goals and dreams. its one thing to talk about it, its another to take action. doing my art daily, doing Novel Writing month, painting, drawing etc... quitting a job that was making life hell, striving for a better life and better job etc...
i put my money where my mouth is. whether thats taking a trip to a commune and considering living there permenently as I did years ago, or quitting my job, or wading through the daily junk one has to wade through in a post collegiate existential crisis
Right. I was going to take a self-imposed board hiatus, but I thought I'd jump in here. You have a sociology BA (Hons), right? You know you have a lot of critical faculties at your disposal to facilitate success at an MA in Literature. Literary studies are very interdisciplinary these days: you could extend on your gifts and knowledge and apply them to readings of great novels, poems and playtexts. All the while, you could be formulating advanced skills in writing. Maybe an MA course in English might have a creative writing module.
I've done the voluntary artistic career path bit. I didn't make dosh but I played a lot of gigs in good little venues (and a lot of shitholes) in London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cambridge, Wakefield and other places. I had a great time most of the time. I learnt how to keep cognitive and emotional control of adverse situations - dealing with bad promoters who didn't pay, hopeless sound engineers and PA, shit venues, bad transport and running down train platforms with 200lbs of equipment to avoid missing the last train of the night after a gig - and I thought that all in all, this was a great way to carry on even though I knew it was ridiculously precarious with no guarantee of any solvency (which you know you'll need eventually unless you're a buffoon). The mind conquered the task, but the body gave out. (Cue violins.) I ended up in a negative air pressure isolation room of a hospital as a result of having ingested some lurgy or other while dragging my gear around with me, very likely on the London Underground where there's no ventilation to speak of. That was it. End of the little romance. Back to academia and playing for fun in my bedroom. Call it a Pavlov's dog situation. (End of slightly quirky tale of woe and reflection.)
You have to be tough and competitive in the field of arts even to get heard at all - presuming that you agree that communication is the first objective of artistic endeavour beyond playing for fun in your bedroom - and even if you think you're strong there's something that'll get you if you have a physical Achilles' heel. Be creative by all means, but if you're in any way over-sensitive in the music field, you're fucked from the start and you'll get eaten alive; and if you're mentally strong, you'd better hope you have a superhuman immune system and constitution to match.
[/inconsequential blurb]
Edit: Ughh. Now I half-wish I hadn't posted that.
Consider this a second plug for doing a Masters in English. Because it simply rocks.
2003: Toronto
2005: Kitchener/Hamilton/Toronto
2006: Toronto 1 & 2
2008: Hartford/EV Toronto 1 & 2
2009: Toronto/Philadelphia 3 & 4
2010: Buffalo
2011: Montreal/Toronto 1 & 2/Hamilton
2013: London/Buffalo/Vancouver/Seattle 2016: Toronto 1 & 2 2022: Hamilton/Toronto 2023: EV Seattle 1&2
and to hesse id say.. cause the world has become one big whorehouse.
we want individuality but we want you to all be the same. if youre not doing it for the money then youre a pinko communist. probably a bit queer as well. what do you mean you dont want a mcmansion? a big car? and stock options?? principles shouldnt be difficult to live by but they are. just do what i do... not give a fuck what they all think. and remember youre not the problem.. youre the solution.
hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
bottom line, i dont want the house and the picket fence. i dont want a car. i dont want status. i dont want fame. i dont want wealth. i dont want awards.
I want to express these desires, these feelings, these things that eminate from my very soul. No job other than a job that allows me and affords me such things will be good enough. i will never be happy and content unless i am doing that.
I have well meaning people in my life telling me to go ahead and pursue a job like being a teacher, or doing the 9 to 5 route because i will be able to have nights off, and go to concerts and do what i want. and thats the struggle. do i go to school and pursue a career path that doesnt mean anything to me, merely because it affords me the luxury of going to concerts? Is that a worthwhile tradeoff? Will I be happy as a bank teller, knowing that I can go to any show I want? Or do I want something else?
Do I not only want to go to concerts, but do I also want to pursue a career that means something to me, that makes me feel alive. that to me is music, film, writing, painting. all the artistic pursuits.
As it stands both are far off, in my mind. too far. years of school are required to be a teacher. years of schooling in an artistic field.
i could go to my local community college tomorrow and apply for the next semester, to get a degree in some field i think may be better than the one i have now. apply myself to a trade that wont be something important to me, but guarantees i wont have to work nights or graveyard.
but as i said, my heart, my soul, my being tells me this isnt what I want.
Van Gogh, Gaughan and Nick Drake and many others lived their whole lives without much appreciation. and although most died tragically, i'd take their living years and the non fame. that to me is heaven. i want that.
i have things to say. things to express. feelings to convey. with all due respect to any office workers, or menial workers, Im worth more than that. I didnt go to school for 20 years to get some dead end job that makes me hate every second of every day. i want more from myself and life.
and to hesse id say.. cause the world has become one big whorehouse.
we want individuality but we want you to all be the same. if youre not doing it for the money then youre a pinko communist. probably a bit queer as well. what do you mean you dont want a mcmansion? a big car? and stock options?? principles shouldnt be difficult to live by but they are. just do what i do... not give a fuck what they all think. and remember youre not the problem.. youre the solution.
Maybe you could think of a project to do if you don't mind being poor while you're putting it together? You're a young guy with no kids or wife so you could do something unusual if you wanted to... :geek:
im at the precipice. im 26. my life isnt what i want it to be. yet i can alter it. it can be anything i want it to be. Spending the next 40 years of my life as some writer or painter who makes little money, thats paradise. I'd rather that then 40 years pretending and faking.
im also willing as i said, unlike alot of folks, to put my career on the line and my livelihood to achieve my goals and dreams. its one thing to talk about it, its another to take action. doing my art daily, doing Novel Writing month, painting, drawing etc... quitting a job that was making life hell, striving for a better life and better job etc...
i put my money where my mouth is. whether thats taking a trip to a commune and considering living there permenently as I did years ago, or quitting my job, or wading through the daily junk one has to wade through in a post collegiate existential crisis
Right. I was going to take a self-imposed board hiatus, but I thought I'd jump in here. You have a sociology BA (Hons), right? You know you have a lot of critical faculties at your disposal to facilitate success at an MA in Literature. Literary studies are very interdisciplinary these days: you could extend on your gifts and knowledge and apply them to readings of great novels, poems and playtexts. All the while, you could be formulating advanced skills in writing. Maybe an MA course in English might have a creative writing module.
I've done the voluntary artistic career path bit. I didn't make dosh but I played a lot of gigs in good little venues (and a lot of shitholes) in London, Liverpool, Birmingham, Cambridge, Wakefield and other places. I had a great time most of the time. I learnt how to keep cognitive and emotional control of adverse situations - dealing with bad promoters who didn't pay, hopeless sound engineers and PA, shit venues, bad transport and running down train platforms with 200lbs of equipment to avoid missing the last train of the night after a gig - and I thought that all in all, this was a great way to carry on even though I knew it was ridiculously precarious with no guarantee of any solvency (which you know you'll need eventually unless you're a buffoon). The mind conquered the task, but the body gave out. (Cue violins.) I ended up in a negative air pressure isolation room of a hospital as a result of having ingested some lurgy or other while dragging my gear around with me, very likely on the London Underground where there's no ventilation to speak of. That was it. End of the little romance. Back to academia and playing for fun in my bedroom. Call it a Pavlov's dog situation. (End of slightly quirky tale of woe and reflection.)
You have to be tough and competitive in the field of arts even to get heard at all - presuming that you agree that communication is the first objective of artistic endeavour beyond playing for fun in your bedroom - and even if you think you're strong there's something that'll get you if you have a physical Achilles' heel. Be creative by all means, but if you're in any way over-sensitive in the music field, you're fucked from the start and you'll get eaten alive; and if you're mentally strong, you'd better hope you have a superhuman immune system and constitution to match.
[/inconsequential blurb]
Edit: Ughh. Now I half-wish I hadn't posted that.
I'll bet once you get settled into your academic life you'll find a way to go back to doing this in some form or another. Your experience and song-writing abilities will push forward again I'm sure.
only you can decide whether a job for just a paycheck is worth the trade off of having time to do what you want to do. and you might not figure that out til you get a job. but what i can tell you is doing somehing just so others approve or cause its expected is not the way to go. do it for yourself or not at all.
hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
im at the precipice. im 26. my life isnt what i want it to be. yet i can alter it. it can be anything i want it to be. Spending the next 40 years of my life as some writer or painter who makes little money, thats paradise. I'd rather that then 40 years pretending and faking.
i just wish it was that simple.
make it that simple.
youre not at the precipice. youre 26 years old. it just feels that way. im 45 and my life isnt what i want it to be. ive lived my whole adult life backwards... but im working towards that cabin in the woods... slowly. and if i reach that place on my death bed well then id have succeeded. stop putting pressure on yourself.
hear my name
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
your job does not define you. It is simply a way to give you money to live in our society (shelter,food, ect.)
just find a job doing anything that will give you enough money to be YOU. your job doesn't have to be meaningful or fullfilling, it just has to pay the bills. it's a JOB, thats it - don't let it take over your life
your job does not define you. It is simply a way to give you money to live in our society (shelter,food, ect.)
just find a job doing anything that will give you enough money to be YOU. your job doesn't have to be meaningful or fullfilling, it just has to pay the bills. it's a JOB, thats it - don't let it take over your life
( btw my interview went GREAT this morning )
can i get some eggs, over hard, with a side of toast and sausage links.
your job does not define you. It is simply a way to give you money to live in our society (shelter,food, ect.)
just find a job doing anything that will give you enough money to be YOU. your job doesn't have to be meaningful or fullfilling, it just has to pay the bills. it's a JOB, thats it - don't let it take over your life
( btw my interview went GREAT this morning )
can i get some eggs, over hard, with a side of toast and sausage links.
Thanks
same here
hard eggs or scrambled up with cheese all up in it.
3 sausage links
whole grain toast
coffee... hazlenut creamer
large glass of orange juice
I have a love/hate relationship with my job/career. It does get very stressful at times, and for a few months every year, it totally consumes my life!
However, it does offer financial rewards, which I use to pursue my interests (music, travel, semi-fine dining).
I got into a pretty soulless field (public accounting), but it has allowed me to work with musicians, artists, actors and professional athletes. I always try to remind myself that if it weren't for my chosen path, I wouldn't have as much of the access to concerts, etc.
You guys don't know what pain, sacrifice, and suffering is until you've worked a part time night shift job that doesn't allow you to go to concerts whenever you want to!
i have things to say. things to express. feelings to convey. with all due respect to any office workers, or menial workers, Im worth more than that. I didnt go to school for 20 years to get some dead end job that makes me hate every second of every day. i want more from myself and life.
I want to live...
I understand this completely. I'm also 26 and have been working an office job for the past 5 years. I have grown to hate being here, but it pays pretty good and there are opportunities for promotion and higher pay in the future. Still, this isn't what I want to be doing with my life..this isn't what makes me happy...I want something MORE..I just don't know what it is :( I have an accounting degree but now I wish I would have chosen a different field.
2003: San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Seattle; 2005: Monterrey; 2006: Chicago 1 & 2, Grand Rapids, Cleveland, Detroit; 2008: West Palm Beach, Tampa; 2009: Austin, LA 3 & 4, San Diego; 2010: Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbus, Indianapolis; 2011: PJ20 1 & 2; 2012: Missoula; 2013: Dallas, Oklahoma City, Seattle; 2014: Tulsa; 2016: Columbia, New York City 1 & 2; 2018: London, Seattle 1 & 2; 2021: Ohana; 2022: Oklahoma City
Comments
you are badass
and thank you for that
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
if i struggled to pay the rent for years as an artist, painter, writer, that to me actually would be infinitely better than my life currently. THATS living life.
i could personally care less about being the next Van Gogh, or John Steinbeck. I merely want to express feelings and emotions that i have. and i'd like to get paid for it obviously, but if i was paid mere cents for it, i'd be a happy man.
As hesse said, I merely wanted to live my life according to my ideals and ethics. why was that so hard?
Aint that the truth brother!
Consider this a second plug for doing a Masters in English. Because it simply rocks.
2005: Kitchener/Hamilton/Toronto
2006: Toronto 1 & 2
2008: Hartford/EV Toronto 1 & 2
2009: Toronto/Philadelphia 3 & 4
2010: Buffalo
2011: Montreal/Toronto 1 & 2/Hamilton
2013: London/Buffalo/Vancouver/Seattle
2016: Toronto 1 & 2
2022: Hamilton/Toronto
2023: EV Seattle 1&2
we want individuality but we want you to all be the same. if youre not doing it for the money then youre a pinko communist. probably a bit queer as well. what do you mean you dont want a mcmansion? a big car? and stock options?? principles shouldnt be difficult to live by but they are. just do what i do... not give a fuck what they all think. and remember youre not the problem.. youre the solution.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
I want to express these desires, these feelings, these things that eminate from my very soul. No job other than a job that allows me and affords me such things will be good enough. i will never be happy and content unless i am doing that.
I have well meaning people in my life telling me to go ahead and pursue a job like being a teacher, or doing the 9 to 5 route because i will be able to have nights off, and go to concerts and do what i want. and thats the struggle. do i go to school and pursue a career path that doesnt mean anything to me, merely because it affords me the luxury of going to concerts? Is that a worthwhile tradeoff? Will I be happy as a bank teller, knowing that I can go to any show I want? Or do I want something else?
Do I not only want to go to concerts, but do I also want to pursue a career that means something to me, that makes me feel alive. that to me is music, film, writing, painting. all the artistic pursuits.
As it stands both are far off, in my mind. too far. years of school are required to be a teacher. years of schooling in an artistic field.
but as i said, my heart, my soul, my being tells me this isnt what I want.
Van Gogh, Gaughan and Nick Drake and many others lived their whole lives without much appreciation. and although most died tragically, i'd take their living years and the non fame. that to me is heaven. i want that.
i have things to say. things to express. feelings to convey. with all due respect to any office workers, or menial workers, Im worth more than that. I didnt go to school for 20 years to get some dead end job that makes me hate every second of every day. i want more from myself and life.
I want to live...
thank you
http://www.thisallencompassingtrip.com/
Maybe you could think of a project to do if you don't mind being poor while you're putting it together? You're a young guy with no kids or wife so you could do something unusual if you wanted to... :geek:
i just wish it was that simple.
I'll bet once you get settled into your academic life you'll find a way to go back to doing this in some form or another. Your experience and song-writing abilities will push forward again I'm sure.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
make it that simple.
youre not at the precipice. youre 26 years old. it just feels that way. im 45 and my life isnt what i want it to be. ive lived my whole adult life backwards... but im working towards that cabin in the woods... slowly. and if i reach that place on my death bed well then id have succeeded. stop putting pressure on yourself.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
just find a job doing anything that will give you enough money to be YOU. your job doesn't have to be meaningful or fullfilling, it just has to pay the bills. it's a JOB, thats it - don't let it take over your life
( btw my interview went GREAT this morning
03/22/94, 01/14/95, 09/24/96, 08/25/98, 08/26/98, 08/31/98, 09/01/98, 09/22/98, 09/23/98, 08/09/00, 08/10/00, 08/12/00, 08/20/00, 08/21/00, 04/11/03, 04/13/03, 07/08/03, 07/09/03, 09/28/04, 09/29/04, 10/06/04, 10/08/04, 09/28/05, 05/20/06, 05/03/10, 05/04/10, 05/10/10
can i get some eggs, over hard, with a side of toast and sausage links.
Thanks
sure, come back for lunch
03/22/94, 01/14/95, 09/24/96, 08/25/98, 08/26/98, 08/31/98, 09/01/98, 09/22/98, 09/23/98, 08/09/00, 08/10/00, 08/12/00, 08/20/00, 08/21/00, 04/11/03, 04/13/03, 07/08/03, 07/09/03, 09/28/04, 09/29/04, 10/06/04, 10/08/04, 09/28/05, 05/20/06, 05/03/10, 05/04/10, 05/10/10
hard eggs or scrambled up with cheese all up in it.
3 sausage links
whole grain toast
coffee... hazlenut creamer
large glass of orange juice
and thank you
"Hear me, my chiefs!
I am tired; my heart is
sick and sad. From where
the sun stands I will fight
no more forever."
Chief Joseph - Nez Perce
Please Support My Writing Habit By Purchasing A Book:
https://www.createspace.com/3437020
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000663025696
http://earthtremors.blogspot.com/
Define "various".
Anus, rectum, ass, butthole, *, and the “trunk”, you know, I like to mix it up, keep thing interesting.
Please Support My Writing Habit By Purchasing A Book:
https://www.createspace.com/3437020
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000663025696
http://earthtremors.blogspot.com/
Sorry, that's where I keep my change.
However, it does offer financial rewards, which I use to pursue my interests (music, travel, semi-fine dining).
I got into a pretty soulless field (public accounting), but it has allowed me to work with musicians, artists, actors and professional athletes. I always try to remind myself that if it weren't for my chosen path, I wouldn't have as much of the access to concerts, etc.
There is always a trade-off.
Work to live, don't live to work!
The other one took a turn for the worse.
DON'T JUDGE THE OP!!!
It had pretty well locked itself by dropping into obscurity.
Why the fuck would you resurrect it?
I understand this completely. I'm also 26 and have been working an office job for the past 5 years. I have grown to hate being here, but it pays pretty good and there are opportunities for promotion and higher pay in the future. Still, this isn't what I want to be doing with my life..this isn't what makes me happy...I want something MORE..I just don't know what it is :( I have an accounting degree but now I wish I would have chosen a different field.
It was linked in the locked thread.
sometimes it's best to let threads die. just look at the newbie thread for a prime example. :P