The Perennial Sam

Some people have the ability to pursue a career with little to no personal relevance to them.  Maybe they find enough fulfillment in the rest of their life that this is not a critical issue.  Or maybe they’re just very easy-going.  At any rate I am not one of these people.  My last job wasn’t exactly challenging or meaningful, but I cared about the people I worked with and this made going to work something I looked forward to.

 One thing I have discussed with my psychologist is finding a career that not only feels important and meaningful to me, but will be something that I can keep up with when I normally wouldn’t go out.  Eventually I’m hoping to have a space where I can do artwork and set up my art supplies where I don’t need to put them away every night.  Or move a painting that’s half dry because someone else needs the space.  I’d like to write and illustrate my own books - children’s books and [maybe] fantasy novels for young adults/grownups.  My mom has a book somewhere that I made when I was 8-10 years old.  It wasn’t a school project - just something I made to entertain myself.  The book is made from lined paper that I cut into rectangular strips, folded in half and stapled along the crease.  Using markers I told and illustrated the story of a squirrel who gets into a house while people are out.  She has a bubble bath in the sink, among other things.  At any rate, writing and illustrating has been something that’s seemed to come naturally to me over the years, so I don’t think it would be too hard to do on my down days.  Not nearly as hard as some other things that seem more against the grain for my personality.

Another bonus to working from home would be that I could set my own hours.  I don’t have a problem with 12 hour days.  There are some day when I hardly feel up to anything, but when I’m feeling good I will plod away at something until it is done.  While I was doing some online research with regard to becoming an illustrator, I came across a few sites where graphic artists had uploaded their portfolios and were waiting for authors to call on them to illustrate their work.  I hadn’t really thought about there being illustrators who don’t write, and vice versa.  This seems to be the majority of writers and illustrators out there though - look at your favourite children’s book from when you were a kid and you’re likely to see two different names on the front. 

My favourite books were from the Little Critter series by Mercer Mayer, who does just happen to be both author and illustrator to his books, sometimes with the help of his wife.  I loved these books not only because of the stories but because the illustrations had interesting backgrounds, with great details like frogs hiding under the couch.  When I went to the library as a kid, I would return a book to the shelf if the pictures weren’t interesting enough.  One of the things I read most often in submission guidelines is a desire for artists to provide a background.  Yes, there are little kids who care!  (And some big kids too.)

Anyhow, the point I’m trying to make is that if you are enthusiastic about something and it has some personal relevance to you, you’re much more likely to stick with it.  Choose something that plays to your strengths rather than your weaknesses.  This is just common sense but in today’s world sometimes the dollar sign takes precedence over well-being.  Just as money can’t buy you love, it can’t buy you happiness either.  For those of you stuck in jobs you don’t like, I hope that you someday have the opportunity to do something meaningful to you.

Thanks for reading everybody.     

Trackback URI | Comments RSS