For me, it's simply this: I didn't find what I was looking for in the resources I studied. All of them contained useful information. Many offered invaluable tips and techniques that I've used along the way. But I didn't find any resources based on the premise that it's possible to live quite happily with both a mundane income-earning job and an outside passion. Nearly everything I read gave some version of How to write a bestseller so that you can make a living off your writing & quit your day job.
This blog/book is different in one crucial respect. It's written for artists, writers & others who've decided, for whatever reason, that they'll be working in the office, plant or store indefinitely and might as well make the most of both worlds. You might be one of them. Here are some possible reasons:
- You actually enjoy your job. You also like having a regular income and if you're fortunate, benefits. You don't see any reason to leave. You just want to figure out how to make more time and energy for your other life.
- You're supporting a significant number of dependents. They could be your kids, someone else's kids, elderly parents or grandparents, a family member with disabilities that prevent him from living independently or some other situation. In any event, you can't quit your job but you yearn for more opportunity to do what feels most meaningful to you.
- You've outgrown your current job and would love to move on, but in the current economy, this will take a long time. Meanwhile, you don't want to completely give up on your dreams.
- You're actually aiming to earn money doing what you love. However, you realize that the market can support only so many full-time authors and artists, that talent and hard work aren't guaranteed to win and that you may always need to support yourself with a job. I don't believe that this implies you're giving up or caving in. It means you're realistic enough to admit that things don't always go according to plan.
- You're uncomfortable with living a dualistic life, as if you're two different people. You might feel like a fake at the office, especially if you work in a straight-laced environment where you feel compelled to hide the quirky tendencies that make you creative. You think there must be a way to integrate both parts of your life so that you don't feel so disjointed. In your most free-wheeling moments you suspect that it may even be possible for your work and your art to inspire each other.
- You've always known exactly what your passion is, but you have a draining job, a young family at home, numerous other responsibilities and no energy left at the end of the day. However, unlike your friends in similar situations, you're not content to work at work, work at home, put the kids to bed and end the day by watching TV and snarfing potato chips. You refuse to accept the idea that "that's all there is" and that quite possibly there's something wrong with you for wanting more.
I'm writing this blog/book on the premise that for each of us, both parts of this double life can work together, support each other and enhance each other. I'll be offering specific techniques and tricks to help with this, gleaned both from my own experience and from others who live a double life seamlessly and successfully. At times I'll add suggestions from experts such as personal coaches but most of the information will come from people like yourself. Above all, this book is meant to be practical.
The book is divided into three main sections. Section one will highlight ways to help work and passion "feed" each other. Section 2 will be devoted to working with time, energy and money. Section 3 will deal with specific challenges, such as keeping your art alive when you're going through a personal crisis.
Finally, before continuing on, I'd like to define the terms I'll be using. "Day job," as you probably already know, doesn't have anything to do with the hours you work; it just refers to your paying job. "Work" is more tricky since it could refer either to the work you do for a living or the work you do for love, as when an artist refers to her work. I use the terms "passion," "vocation" and "art" to denote after-hours work that provides meaning. This doesn't mean that this type of activity is limited to an art form such as painting, writing or performing. Your "art" in this sense could be cooking, gardening, hiking or some other outdoor recreation, working on a community project or in politics...whatever might be your primary source of meaning or fulfillment.
We'll get to the how-to stuff soon. But first I want you to meet several people who will be making this journey with us.
