The Artist and the Day Job.

Someone I interviewed with a while ago called my manager to check up on the references I had provided. Kind of caught me off guard -- I wasn't expecting to be in the running since I wasn't able to commit to full-time. And I'm not sure that I'd want the job if they offered it to me. I actually ended up going to the interview because I forgot to cancel it with reasonable notice, and I figured it might be a good connection to have made for the future. And my interviewers were great, and it's something that on a lot of levels would/could be very fulfilling -- but I also have a gut-level hesitation about it. Part of it is benefits. Paid time off and (cheap!) health care, I'm increasingly realizing, are pretty damn valuable. The other part is trying to save all, or at least the majority of my feelings of fulfillment (not to mention energy) for my art. I think right now it's important for me to have something of a shit job, and be able to come home and throw myself into the art and make that the good part of my day.

And yet I keep looking for more jobs.

The artist and the day job: the epic saga...