Do you ever wonder what life would have been like had you chosen a more standard path? Does everyone have these doubts sometimes? We wanted to find out and so we asked as many talented artists and creatives as we could and have shared highlights below.

Austin Ching

As a general music educator working with children from ages 1 to 13 and a graduate student in music education, researching the well-being of musicians, college music students, and teachers, I’ve found great fulfillment in my work’s artistic and creative aspects. However, there have certainly been times when I’ve wondered what having a more conventional “regular” job would be like. But here begs the question, “What is a regular job?” Read more>>

Lance Vickery

As an artist, typically, you have to wear many hats. After school, I decided to take a break from full-time art and got a desk job. I taught myself coding and got a job building websites. I was good at it, and the work was straightforward. The hours and paychecks were regular. I tried to create on the weekends and evenings. This was hard. It is hard to give away all your energy during the week and then pour yourself into your work. It got easier over time. But, there was always a level of dissatisfaction with where my time was spent. I wanted more time in the studio, but I liked the comfort of a steady income. My father used to say, “You can have money or time, but you can only have one of them.” Work became boring and predictable. It became harder to be happy with the Faustian Deal. Read more>>

Donnie Bowling

I feel very fulfilled as an artist and creative, I’m soo lucky and happy I get to do such a thing in my spare time.

I say spare time because like a lot of my peers I also have a job/career that i maintain. When I was younger and growing up in the coal fields of eastern Kentucky my mother and father pushed for me to attend college. They always wanted more for me than they had and hoped that I wouldn’t have to struggle like many in the area to find jobs and work my body away in the deep dark coal mines. I was lucky they forced that future on me. Read more>>

Anna Lucie Schollerova

As an artist, happiness can often feel like a double-edged sword. On one hand, pursuing creativity is deeply fulfilling, but on the other, the uncertainty that comes with it can be overwhelming. Every artist experiences months when work is abundant, and everything feels aligned, but those are often followed by months of little to no work. That inconsistency is incredibly frustrating and can make you question whether the rewards outweigh the challenges. Read more>>

Barbara Perez

I feel like I regularly have this thought about what would my life be like if I didn’t have the career that I do, what if I were to dedicate my life to what my college degree says? Because a life of a creative is a fulfilling one but it’s also riddled with uncertainty, being unsure of what your monthly income will be, and wondering if there are enough jobs for you to dedicate your life to, I think there is comfort in having a regularly 9-5 job, a job at an office where you can expect certain things, also when you have a ‘typical’ job, you get to clock out, while being a creative or an artist you don’t clock in or out, I think you are always working because your creativity is your fuel, therefore when are we not thinking? Read more>>

April Love

I am a much happier person when I am creating. Occasionally I miss the discipline of working outside the home, a steady paycheck, and miss working with others.

Ultimately I love the freedom to get lost in my head and work on ideas as they come to me, When working a regular office job I found it to be draining of creativity. Sometimes I would get a flood of ideas while at work but by the time I got home and found a chance to actually work on the ideas I was too burnt out. When I was a wedding and family photographer, it was the same thing, Read more>>

Sayumi Ino

I feel incredibly happy to have lived as an artist for so many years. I am overflowing with artistry, and I believe that if I were working a regular job, I would not be able to fully utilize my natural talents. I truly feel that I was born to live as an artist—it’s my destiny. In 2018, I was chosen as a tour dancer for OMI (Hiroomi Tosaka), the lead vocalist of the globally renowned artist group “Sandaime J SOUL BROTHERS” under LDH JAPAN, for his first-ever nationwide tour. The tour covered 11 cities and 23 performances across Japan. It is no small feat for a solo artist to carry out a nationwide arena tour of this scale. Moreover, OMI brought along a team of 10 dancers—5 men and 5 women—on this tour. Every performance was sold out, which clearly demonstrated just how popular an artist he is.  Read more>>

Dabin Ryu

I’m very thankful that I can do what I love as a job. I’m also incredibly grateful to spend most of my day working on my projects and playing gigs with other great artists, which inspires me so much. However, living in NYC can sometimes be challenging when it comes to financial stability and freedom. Many gigs still pay the same or only slightly more than they did 10–15 years ago, while rent and living expenses have skyrocketed year after year. Read more>>

Brittany Willoughby

The thing is, I‘m currently existing in this happy medium between the two and I absolutely love it here. I have a “regular” job where I’m a Sr. Manager within the electric vehicle charging industry. I love the stability that my 9-5 affords. I can pay my bills, support my family, and use my income to help finance my art business as well. While art is what I’m passionate about, I also value my success in my career and the security that it brings. The beauty of my job is that it’s work from home, so I’m better able to manage my time and more easily carve out creative time without having to factor in being out of my home/studio for 8+ hours a day. I’m also lucky enough to have a job that not only values work/life balance, but encourages us to share our interests in our personal lives, where they are actually invested in one’s interests and passions. Read more>>

Empress J

I feel much happier as an artist. In fact, I see things from the opposite perspective when it comes to having a regular job. Right now, I’m balancing a traditional job with my entrepreneurial and artistic pursuits. But lately, as I sit at work, I feel an overwhelming urge to focus solely on my creative passions. Not being able to fully express my talents feels stifling and even adds to my stress. Read more>>

Danny Kaminski

I definitely think about having a regular job often, but I just don’t think it computes with me and my brain. Having a regular full time school schedule is already hard enough on me and drains me like crazy! There are some things that I definitely crave from a steady gig like that though. The stability of a consistent paycheck and a place to live is definitely appealing. But I don’t know. I’ve been absolutely miserable in every job I’ve ever had so I just don’t think it’s the life for me! Read more>>

Fredrick Arasanyin

That’s such a profound question. Let me reflect on this with you.

The thing about being an artist or creative is that it’s not just a job; it’s a lens through which you view and experience life. There’s this endless drive to create, express, and connect, but with that comes a certain level of vulnerability and uncertainty that a more “traditional” career path doesn’t always carry. Read more>>