The creative life is a very different life path from the standard 9-5. And while it does have so many rewards, it also comes with its own set of challenges.

The creative life can be a most wonderful life, but it also isn’t for everyone. There is a huge change that occurs when your art goes from being a hobby to being an occupation. No matter how much we love our job, it’s still a job. Like any other job, it will come with its own real-life problems. That’s what separates a hobby from an occupation. When it’s just a hobby, you can simply walk away from it, and come back to it later. When the creative life is your living, you have to push through the problems, no matter how much you don’t want to.

From the outside looking in, you’ll appear to other people to have a beautiful, idyllic life. They may believe everything goes right all the time in your life, and your work never feels like work. They’ll tell you how lucky you are and how much they wish they could do what you’re doing. The truth is, they probably wouldn’t survive what you’re doing. That’s why they chose a safe and traditional 9-5 life. The creative life is very fulfilling most of the the time. But it isn’t sunshine and daisies ALL the time; no matter how it looks from the outside.

Every Occupation Has Challenges

There will be days that you outright hate it. You’ll have days where everything goes wrong and being your own boss and your own employee, there won’t be anyone to pass the buck to. There will plenty of days of being broke, and sleepless nights wondering to yourself “why the hell am I doing this?” You’ll have to muddle through days of having to create even when you’re sick and don’t have the inspiration. And contrary to popular belief, you’ll be working far more hours than you ever would with a standard 9-5 job.

You need to make sure the joys of your passion are enough to outweigh any downsides before you choose to make it your living. In my own life, even flower farming has its downsides. Flower farming can include getting chased by hornets in the flower patch. Scrubbing slimy buckets. Picking flowers in 90 degree heat or pouring rain and thunderstorms (I’ve almost been struck by lighting picking flowers out in the fields). Fighting lily beetles with dish soap. Working 16 hours days. Getting only 3 hours of sleep on market nights. And having pretty much no break for 5 months straight. But the benefits include being surrounded by nature all time. Picking flowers. Planting in the freshly turned earth brings me joy. I love gazing at the beautiful flower heads. The smell of the peonies in the spring delights me. I love looking at bunch of freshly made bouquets all in a row. For me, the benefits outweigh the downside.

We Don’t Choose the Creative Life; It Chooses Us

So why do some of us choose the creative life if it can be just as difficult (or sometimes more) than a “normal” job would be? Because we’re artists, and yes, all artists a little nuts. (Why else would we pursue something with no sure signs of success?) For those to whom the creative life truly calls, we accept it. We take the bad with the good, because we can’t live without creating. Creativity is part of us, and we can’t handle just pushing it off as a hobby that we only get to pursue during our free time.

There is one similarity among all of us who choose the creative life. Whether we’re painters, musicians, writers, or any other type of creative, we all have one thing in common in our creative lives. It is that even though we’re creating to live, we really live to create.

It’s the deepest desire inside of us; our truest passion. It is the nourishment we need to survive, which is why we choose what can sometimes be a difficult life path. It’s because we NEED to create. Creativity is life for us; it’s our color in a black and white world, and so we choose to live the creative life. Because if the creative life is your true calling and you’re willing to face the stormy seas, you’ll also find periods of beautiful, smooth sailing. If you take the bad with the good and acknowledge that it’s not going to be perfect all the time living your dream, you will eventually find the creative life so enriching, you won’t know how you ever lived without it.

Written by Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf

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