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.

Abril Andrade

Yes, I’m happy being an artist. It’s not always easy there are moments of doubt, frustration, and uncertainty but creating art gives me a sense of purpose and connection that nothing else does. It allows me to express myself, challenge myself, and continuously grow. Seeing my work resonate with others, even in small ways, makes the journey meaningful. Read more>>

Laurel Elizabeth Hasara

Yes, for myself I can’t imagine the drab, morosely depressive state of existence as a non-artist.
I often wonder how human beings walk among me who don’t make art the central focus of their every waking thought and motivational pull. Art is like a supplement for popping ecstasy pills. It’s the ultimate and elite form of escapism. It’s a mirror held up to the soul; there’s nothing else like it. It’s the strongest sign of human flourishing, beyond just surviving. I’ve never experienced a moment of boredom or aimless meaninglessness, a so-called “insatiable VOID” that philosophers and clergy alike wrestle with defining, until their dying breath. Read more>>

Ron Victor

I did have a regular job as a consultant. I was a programmer/analyst writing computer systems for companies like Bell Labs, AT&T and others.
There were no computer majors when I attended college or I would have gone in that direction at that point. My major was biology and I minored in art. After college, I had to take courses at Grumman Corporation to learn to design and write computer programs. Read more>>

ST4TIIC⚡️ 43VR

The happiest I’ve ever been, honestly, has been since I allowed myself to fully embrace life as a creative. For a while, I was going down the traditional path, the kind where you clock in, do your tasks, clock out. Now don’t get me wrong I am still doing it while trying to get my artwork to be my full time job. But one morning, I just woke up and thought, “What am I doing? Am I even happy?” I sat with that question for a while. I looked around at the life I was building and realized it wasn’t mine, it was borrowed. Built from expectations and assumptions, not from who I truly was. Read more>>

Kexin Liu

There’s no doubt that being a creator is pure joy. Creativity brings me a deep, steady happiness that isn’t dependent on surviving hardship to appreciate the payoff, but doesn’t come without its struggles. There are moments when the weight of creative work makes me wonder if I’d be better off in a regular job—the kind some parents always said a girl should have. Read more>>

Able Machines

We were just imagining the other night about how it must feel to be done with our jobs at dinner time and have the night off to relax, watch TV and spend time with our friends and family. When you are a creative, it seems like you are always “on” from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to sleep. Our brains are always spinning with marketing ideas, song ideas, video concepts and to-do lists. Read more>>

Brian Langan

I think I’m definitely happier as a “Creative”. Happy in general? not always but life can and WILL launch many arrows at you and I can’t imagine myself being able to take an arrow to the side and just barrel through to a roofing job or go sit at a desk making sales calls with an arrow embedded in my torso. Being an artist and a musician allows me to catch some of those arrows, melt down the arrowheads and make an amulet, widdle the wood into chopsticks etc.. I guess what I mean is my schedule is pretty flexible which allows me more options when dealing with some of life’s stressors. There are of course negatives such as not having a guaranteed set amount of monthly income, having to self motivate and self-manage. Read more>>

Mina Kasimoglu

In the context of work, I can’t imagine pursuing anything that isn’t in the creative field, and a large part of that is because there are too many things I would want to be to confine myself to anything else. As an artist, I’m able to be everything at once. To me, it’s the best part of making stories. I navigate much of my life by imagining the different ways I can take aspects of my own and others’ experiences and apply them to a greater fictional narrative, so I do end up wondering often how a regular job would feel, what sort of knowledge you need to succeed in them, or even what the internal structure of working in that facility would look like. The one caveat is that its seldom myself that I imagine in those situations. Read more>>

Talia (Ali) Gamble

I have always been a bouncing ball of nervous ADHD creative energy. However, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a prodessional dancer and an obstetrician. Dance was my firat love. I was in pageants. (I know. The goth girl used to do beauty pageants.😅) and that was always my answer when I was asked “What are your plans in the future?” I couldn’t imagine anything more rewarding than caring for women carrying the next generation into the world, helping them safely bring those generations earthside, and spending my free time telling stories with my body through dance. Read more>>

Cassandra Johnson

YES I am happy as a creative! Writing songs is so natural for me and I love having the freedom to do it because I’m not worn out from a full time job. I think about it most of the day and crave making beautiful sounds. I’m a curious person; finding new sounds and picking the brains of other creatives that I adore keeps me inspired. Read more>>

Yukti V. Agarwal

After graduating from college, I had a full-time offer lined up—a good salary, great benefits, the ability to secure a visa in the US. On paper, it looked like exactly what you’re supposed to want. But I couldn’t shake this feeling that if I said yes, I’d be choosing comfort over growth. I kept asking myself: was I making a decision out of fear? Read more>>

Laji Sanusi

Becoming a full time artist was one of the most daunting moves I have ever made. I left my regular job roughly 6 years ago. At the time I was on the cusp of a promotion and felt I was at a crossroads. I was comfortable at work but honestly felt I was unhappy not living the creative path I secretly wanted. I felt I really needed to make a choice between settling into a new role at work or pursue a dream of creating art for a living. I chose the latter and took the leap. Read more>>

Xiefangzheng “Will” Sun

I do think I’m quite happy working in the creative profession – but sometimes it can be really tricky working a full-time job at an architectural studio. Unless you’re starting your own business, you’d most likely be working under the creative direction of someone else, which can often be restrictive. Even if you work for yourself, there are still real constraints like clients’ wishes, budget, etc… So I find it important to keep a healthy distance from your daily work and understand that it is not necessarily tied to your own expression. At the same time, I also believe that it is critical to find ways to express oneself outside of monetary work as well – this can be many things. For me that means photography, futsal, drawing, and basketball – all of which can be quite creative. Read more>>

Mary Loos

I call myself a happy painter. There are so many reasons why but for me the main reason I feel so fortunate as a creative individual is the freedom I feel in my pursuit as an artist. Freedom of solitude. I can follow my energy flows and create when the time is right for me in an environment detailed to support the creative process. I surround myself with things that make me feel at home, grounded and inspired. Music, plants, relics from the past huge windows letting in natural light and a view to the river make my studio a pleasure to be in. As an introvert carving out long chunks of uninterrupted time where I get lost in the artwork is a key ingredient my in my artistic recipe. A regular job has its perks, regular pay being a big one, but I have traded that security for something that fills my cup and my dreams. Read more>>

Brandley Jasney

I wrestled with this question a bit. It forced me to step away from the ravaging noise of my mind and truly ask myself, Does this truly make me happy? For me, happiness isn’t dependent on external factors, nor do I believe in chasing happiness. I seek fulfillment, I pursue purpose. And I believe filmmaking is that for me. But with that purpose comes a weight, a great responsibility to communicate something greater, something moving. It demands much of me, if not all. It requires me to feel everything deeply, to be extremely intentional, to walk through experiences and lessons that are almost always hard. It takes all of my mind, and most of my time. Read more>>

Zhe Song

Being a filmmaker was not my dream “job” at first. I was passionate about physics and art, and being an engineer has always been a preferred choice because it’s more stable, it’s easier to earn a high salary, and it makes me feel secure when I have a more “practical” skill. Read more>>

Karyn Blaney

There was a time when my life looked very different. I had the stability of a 9–5 job, the kind where you watch the clock and wait for the day to end. But when I discovered that my daughter was being mistreated by someone I trusted to care for her while I worked, everything changed. I walked away from that job without a second thought. My child needed me, and nothing else mattered. Read more>>

Etubi Onucheyo

Yes I am extremely happy as an artist but life isn’t a straight line so there are times where I’m forced to look upon my choices with scrutiny but it’s never about being in another field but if I’m steering my creative career properly. Most recently was when I had to take on a role in an advertising agency as an art director in 2023, desperately needed a new gig because commissions were drying up and bills were piling up. Taking it on felt like necessary evil at the time but as the months rolled by I was reminded as to why some creatives(especially myself) don’t enjoy work like that. From meaningless titles to crazy unrealistic deadlines and having my capability as an artist questioned, I had to sit down alone and reacquaint myself with my goals as artist. I was tired of seeing pitch decks for ads and wanted to see character designs and pin up illustrations. Read more>>

Diship Garg

I’m definitely happier as an artist—but that doesn’t mean I haven’t questioned it. In fact, I think every creative has those moments of doubt.

I remember one night vividly. I was in New York, alone in my apartment, editing a song I’d been working on for weeks. It was Rooh, actually—a song that came from the deepest part of me. The sun had set hours ago, and I hadn’t eaten, hadn’t checked my phone, hadn’t stepped away from the session. I was emotionally and physically exhausted. And somewhere between takes, I paused and thought: What if I had just taken a regular job? What if I had a 9 to 5, a steady paycheck, weekends off, health insurance, structure—would I be happier? Would life be simpler? Read more>>