Creative Conundrums #12: Wealth Vs Creativity (Or Both)?
A Writer's Corner series dedicated to challenges and worries throughout the creative process, doubts, queries and everything in between.
Storms, Going For It and Past Instalments of Creative Conundrums
Another week, another storm and the same eight feet that need excessive washing and drying before they trot across the kitchen floor. It has been chaos in the UK, especially Scotland where trains have become extinct (or so I hear from trust-worthy sources). Chimney pots are missing. Roofs have been going walkabout.
The one little win for me this week, apart from surviving the gales, is attending a free, one-hour session with someone sharing their ‘How I write’ thoughts and experience. That, and … lunching with a friend in the office today; I had not seen her in ages, and catching up was lovely.
As usual, previous instalments of Creative Conundrums can be found below. Post #1 and Post #2 are inter-linked, and you may wish to read Post #11 before you read this one, but otherwise the Creative Conundrums can be read in whatever order you see fit.
Creative Conundrums #2: Individual Publications or Publication Sections?
Creative Conundrums #4: What Are the Substack ... Things Called?
Creative Conundrums #8: Creative Writing Courses Vs M(F)As in Creative Writing
Creative Conundrums #9: First Draft Exposure Vs First Draft Secrecy
Creative Conundrums #10: Literary Competitions Now Vs Literary Competitions Later
Creative Conundrums #11: Corporate Jobs Vs Creative Jobs (Or Both)?
What is Creative Conundrums?
“What is Creative Conundrums”, you ask yourself. It is a series – if someone has a finer term for it, I would steal it in a heartbeat – dedicated to questions of creative nature, worrisome thoughts, plaguing insecurities, and day-to-day challenges that I wrestle with.
Over the years, I have realised that much of what we often consider to be unique to our personalities, for example the tendency to be indecisive, or circumstances, say, our education background or job, resonates with others louder than we have ever imagined.
Creative Conundrums will, therefore, serve two purposes:
Aid me in un-baffling myself through endless rambling and mind backflips, and
Provide solace to you in the realisation that you are not alone in your troubles (Fingers crossed, sound practical advice will be a welcome by-product).
Time for Creative Conundrum #12.
Creative Conundrums #12: Wealth Vs Creativity (Or Both)? Context
Is the myth of the ‘poor’ artist alive and thriving? I believe the tides are shifting slowly and a growing number of people are pursuing creative careers despite the assumption they will be borderline homeless; they are combining relative wealth with creativity and self-expression. One only has to open YouTube or Instagram or TikTok to be bombarded with evidence of content creation paying (off). Videos, reels and (moving) imagery curated neatly for the viewing pleasure of millions of subscribers, followers and …. TikTokers?
The visual domain is different, though, correct? Sight is the sense we overuse rely on the most to gather data about the surrounding world, e.g., potential dangers, and / or consume information that is to our liking and of interest to us, e.g., watching a YouTube video on the topic of X rather than visiting the local library for reference books. And while a part of me wishes the world were not excessively driven by consumerism, the creators are merely responding to a market need. In a time when we are expected – or have we imposed that expectation on ourselves? – to do a million things at once, a multitasking hell heaven we live in, watching a video allows us to also cook, answer our toddler’s questions, text our friend about a dinner date in approximately six months (‘Does Saturday, 27th Jul work?’. She may be on holiday. ‘How about the week after my likely holiday?’ ‘I can’t, Peter’s parents are coming down from Manchester and you know what that means.’), email that one colleague who has missed your deadline and is now asking questions they should have asked two weeks ago, etc.
But what about people whose aspirations are tethered to less visually stimulating media, e.g., writers of books, poets? Are they destined for a life of restrictions, and does this preconception deter innately talented creators from even trying?
Writers like Stephen King and J. K. Rowling are living proof the above must misleading or even factually incorrect, and some writers are, in fact, millionaires and billionaires. Therefore, they too are successfully combining wealth (in its truest meaning) with creativity.
Thing is this renewed zest for art is only a recent phenomenon. When those of us, sadly not in our teens anymore, were growing up, we were at the receiving end of a dominant perspective that said that art was unserious, indeed. ‘No artistic job will ever pay your bills, let alone help you support a child! You need a proper job!’. We perked up, we understood and reflected, we shook the dreams off and completed University degrees and work placements to prepare us for years spent in an office; others did apprenticeships gearing up for the dangerous or unglamorous jobs no one else wanted to. Very few of us, the likes of Stephen King, went against the grain (against the will of our parents or to spite society out of its silly misconceptions) and dreamt big: the unattainable stuff out of a J. K. Rowling biography.
We chose wealth (or, at least, a steady income) over creativity. Practical over imaginative. Tangible over elusive. Intense over flimsy.
Creative Conundrums #12: Wealth vs Creativity (Or Both)? The Actual Conundrum
The majority of peeps will never be a J. K. Rowling or a Stephen King, and assuming our life trajectories are such that we are either starting out (and this may mean you are in your forties or in your sixties), or our personal circumstances do not allow us to carve a vocation of similar magnitude (and, yes, I do know about J. K. Rowling’s own circumstances before she wrote Harry Potter, but comparing ourselves to incredibly successful people can be both motivating and damaging), where does that leave us?
Selfishly, I envisage people in the same (or a passing) boat as me. I have reached and surpassed the mid-thirties point and started doubting my career choices. I never expected this to happen; I was always convinced I was ambitious and after a six-figure salary, leading multiple teams and sitting in Boardrooms. In other words, the exact path everyone from my parents, through my grandparents to my teachers were advising me to go down and follow. When I was four, I wanted to be an actress (a vet, a journalist and a lawyer were the other professions I was contemplating) and was encouraged for a while until school demanded my undivided attention. I stopped going to the local kids’ theatre (about the only extracurricular activity there was) every Wednesday afternoon.
And yet, here I am, sitting not in a Boardroom but a small, white-walled room (no glass ceilings to break), decorated with a vibrantly blue reading chair, an AC/DC poster, a mood board with print outs of Frida Kahlo’s work and that of William Blake, a vinyl, a bookshelf, and scented candles. It is cosy; it is warmer than a Boardroom…
Yet being thirty-seven, retraining to be anything but a person in business wear, is scary. It is not impossible, but it is scary. Even if I did do it, I would be starting in, what, at least my forties? A good twenty years behind the curve…with a brain that is slowly but surely (I am speaking about myself only) deteriorating in its various capacities, e.g., remembering my dreams, remembering if I have done X, remembering … anything, learning a new language, retaining information without writing it down. Et cetera. Et cetera.
Not to mention that to learn the craft I will need to steal pockets of time, with focus split between a myriad of priorities. It will be learning a craft without the immersion; no exciting and excited young, University-fostered sense of community but plentiful of adult worries, e.g., when is the water bill coming (and how much will it be), have I put petrol in my car (goes back to memory loss), I do not have potatoes and I am making mash tonight, I am full of a cold but my son has a football game on Saturday. Et cetera. Et cetera.
Is it not easier to just be unhappy? Unhappy yet wealthy (ier)…
Photo by Patrick Weissenberger on Unsplash
Creative Conundrums #12: Wealth Vs Creativity (Or Both)? Thoughts
Over to you! I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. I have added several questions for you to ponder:
Were you an artistic child and did you dream of becoming, say, a writer?
Did your nearest and dearest advise you to focus on something steadier, likely to bring in a consistent flow of money?
If that were the case and you ended up studying Accountancy (nothing against Accountants!), is your choice regretful now?
Have you stuck with your non-creative career, or have you made steps towards a change to something more fulfilling perhaps?
What are some of the challenges you have experienced with #4?
Thank you again for your engagement.