I went to the tax guy last week. After reviewing my finances, he advised me to “go to school and learn some real skills” to ameliorate the situation. My first instinct was to go home, open up my in-progress Glossary of Commonly Used Terms here on SRCB and make a new entry under “A” (if you know what I mean). But then I realized two things. First, what kind of artist lives a life unimpeded? What kind of person, period, is never judged, maligned, misunderstood, or ridiculed? Especially by people who know nothing of the nuts and bolts of our particular existence? To quote Mr. T, I pity the fool. The second thing is that I really do have to be careful to keep things in balance. It is true that I live a pretty extraordinary life. But one cannot pay the bills with sunshine, happiness, and a blog full of advice to myself (which is what this is, in case you haven’t caught that yet). So I went out and got QuickBooks to track stuff, decided at last to self-publish and contacted BookSurge, and will enroll in a bow repair seminar this summer. In order to lead the swashbuckling life of someone who does what they love for a living you must, in trade for that luxury, maximize every effort and seek out every last lead. Due diligence, meet common sense.
So how’s everybody’s pinky finger? Whipping up a post about that lil’ guy soon. Two entries so far in the contest, as of this morning.
5 Responses
Self-publishing? YAY! You know that all of us will promptly order a copy as soon as it’s available.
It is a common misconception that being an artist isn’t a “real job.” If the general public knew how much work actually goes into being an artist they would a.) pay us better and b.) stop criticizing us for not having a “practical skill.”
Truth is, it is a difficult existence. Not only do we have to hone our craft and spend hours finding our artistic voice, but we also have to hustle for gigs and do a lot of thankless performances that have nothing to do with artistic fulfillment. In the end most of us have to hold down a day job to make ends meet.
But if we can compromise and keep our artistic spirit afloat in a sea of doubt and naysayers, then we’ll be alright.
Hoist the sails, weather the storms, dig up that buried treasure of self fulfillment. ARRRGH! ;o)
I’m starting to hate my 8-5 job, using my ‘practical skills’, but that paycheck is pretty decent. Not awesome, ahem, but ok for now.
Taxes? Meh. This “advice” came from a guy doing your taxes. C’mon, now…
While it won’t help with income issues, I can get you the number of De’s tax guy, who works with all kinds of industry types and would likely not be as egregiously dismissive of your profession.
What’s up with your glossary of terms? I seem to have every one of these issues…Ping Pong Brain, note fever…How do you know all this? 😉