Finding the balance between responsibility and passion.
Photo by hades
I’ve been spending most of my afternoon catching up on my very neglected RSS reader. I also spent time today listening to a couple of Phoenix creatives talk about their “alter egos.”
The part of their message that had the greatest impact on me was that it’s okay to hold a regular job. It’s even okay for that job to be something completely unrelated to your passion or “alter ego.” They spend their days doing design for financial institutions and their nights creating funny and beautiful other worlds, characters, and stories. They look at their day jobs as funding for their dreams and the responsible choice in supporting their families. The fact that their jobs don’t tap too much into their creative brains helps because they don’t come home feeling drained.
Although I eventually want my day job to be my dream job and fulfill my passion, I have had the opportunity to start now. My dream job is to teach elementary students. Since August of ’09, I have been coaching kindergarten through 6th grade students in cheerleading and gymnastics. It pays fairly well per hour but with only two to three classes a week plus commute, I barely break even (monetarily). This lack of decent income has become a bit of a burden. I’m willing to give up this opportunity for now, but I’m hoping I don’t have to.
This brings me to a particular post I read on The Art of Great Things that says I don’t have to feel guilty about finding or holding a typical, scheduled position. It also states that it is the responsible thing to do for most people. This post is also about the work-life balance and again relates to the talk I heard earlier. By working in a regular job, I will have the funding, time, and energy to pursue my coaching opportunity.
I’m still on the search for the job that will fit my schedule. I know that even if I have to settle for a full time J-O-B; I can find other ways to fulfill my passion.