There is a common mythology concerning the nature of “success.” We are exposed to this mythological imagery every day. It generally has to do with “giving up your 9-5 job” and pursuing something exotic. The most common alternative career is being a rock star.
There are various success gurus in the bookosphere who preach going after one’s artistic dream, and while I certainly don’t want to dissuade anyone from doing so, I would like to offer a little bit of advice, or at least perspective, since I am someone who has actually done this sort of thing.
First of all, what is success? This is a very difficult word to define. I will get right to the point: for some people, success is really just a sense of being honored and acknowledged. I do believe that the fantasy of a career as a “rock star” appeals because it has, embedded in it, an assumption that one’s needs to be heard, loved, appreciated, and honored will be met. These are nice things to have, but it is dangerous to assume that if you get into that line of work, all will be beer and skittles.
The music business is rocky, as is the writing business, or any other aspect of show business. It’s great when you’re up on stage or on the charts, but nothing lasts forever, and when you’re not on stage getting the adulation of 30,000 adoring fans, you are probably in a hotel room far from home with no one to talk to. It can be nice, but it can also be lonely. It sort of depends on what you make of it.
And that is my point. Professional singing and writing means you are doing it for someone else, not for you. They are, essentially, service industries, and while it looks like it will meet all your basic emotional needs while paying you lots of money, even if you succeed bigtime, you may be miserable. I loved being on stage, but I really hated having to play The Messiah while all my friends were at a party watching Tom Brady’s first run at the Superbowl.
Another point is one of pure big-picture practicality. If I were to recommend that everyone leave their 9-5 job and pursue their artistic dream, what if everyone followed that advice? Society would implode, because without truck drivers, people in cities would run out of food in a day or two.
My advice is a little more practical: no matter what you do, be it an author, a rock star, or a truck driver, do it with gusto. Take joy in the service you are providing. Take joy in the camaraderie with your co-workers. You may need to switch fields to find a place where people are more open to being alert and alive and happy in what they do, and different companies have different cultures in that regard. But this is not something that is determined solely by what kind of work you are doing. It starts within, with cleaning out the shame that is to be found everywhere, in negative beliefs about oneself and loyalties to systems that do not serve you. This can be addressed no matter what kind of work you do, and it is a lot easier to feel good about yourself when the kind of work you do is in constant demand and keeps you busy all day.
(c) Justin Locke
