Today I’m hosting a guest post from the always inspiring, always hilarious words of Michelle Ward, the When I Grow Up Coach.
I asked her to write a bit about doing what you love, moving toward your ideal work and overcoming some of the blocks along the way. She never disappoints. 
Enjoy her words on being a “practical creative”!
As the When I Grow Up Coach, I’ve worked with a ton of practical creatives. I’m one, my husband’s one, and, oh, 99% of my clients are one.
By “practical creative” I mean someone who yearns to have a passionate career (aka something that doesn’t feel like work!), gives them freedom (whether it has them working for themselves or someone else), lets them use their talents in a way that feeds their bank account, and allows them to have the stability they want as a grown-up without living their life for The Man.
In other words, something that we think exists only in our dreams.
Y’ see, to be a “ practical creative” , in a word, sucks. It seem so counterproductive, so ironic, so nonsensical to want the Life Of An Artist with the guaranteed paycheck that we think only comes with being a Corporate Drone. There sometimes seems to just be no gray area to live in, and we often wish that we could just be like everyone else, perfectly content to be a worker bee who comes home every night, has dinner with his family, watches TV and hits the sack at 10:30p day after day.
Instead we race from day jobs to practices, to rehearsals, to sewing machines, to classes, to canvases, to novels we’ re in the middle of writing. We beg off of happy hours and go to bed way past midnight to work our passions, our talents and our aspirations that make us so happy and yet torture us at the same time. It’s our blessing, our respite, and yet also – (pause for dramatic effect) – our curse.
We often don’t feel like we’re in control. We wear a mask in the office, 40+ hours/week, and spend the rest of our waking hours (another 60 hours/week, maybe?) feeling like we’re not living the life we yearn for. And that’s because, well, we’re not. We’re still on someone else’s terms, under someone else’s rules, in a life that doesn’t feel like our own.
So, where’s the grey area? Is it even possible to own your life when you’re a practical creative, needing to scratch that stability itch?
Heck, even as an entrepreneur I often don’t feel like I’m totally in control of my life. If I did, I’d be taking an improv class or writing a cabaret show alongside building my business, coaching my current clients, writing my book proposal, and being a worthy wife, daughter, sister and friend.
But here’s what we can put into practice right freakin’ now:
- Track your time for an entire week. You can use one of these templates to help you out so it’s not entirely torturous. Make it as specific or as general as you want (i.e. 8-9a: get ready for day OR 8-8:15a: shower, 8:15-8:30a: make-up; 8:30-8:40: get dressed, etc), and don’t change anything that you’re already doing. Just go about your normal week. On the 8th day, do the math. How many hours did you spend at work, including the commute? How much time was spent in front of the TV? How long were you writing, or sewing, or rehearsing? This isn’t an exercise to beat yourself up for working too much or too little on your passions, but to really assess what’s working and what’s not. Which leads me to…
- Be brutally honest. Pretend as if you owe nothing to nobody, you haven’t made a single commitment, you wouldn’t upset anyone by saying “ no” , and there are no such thing as repercussions. How do you want to spend your day/week/month? What would be fun for you? Make sure you turn off your brain for this one, just for a bit. Listen to your gut. Listen to your heart. See what they say and give that great stock. If that proves difficult…
- Lay down on your couch or nestle in to your favorite chair and close your eyes. Envision YourNameHere Land, where you paint the scenery and decide on the laws and activities. The trees might be purple and everyone might have to sing instead of talk – who knows? Let yourself go to this place and live there for just a few minutes. When you see that scene and walked around in that universe for a while, open your eyes. What did you do? Who was there with you? What did YourNameHereLand look like? What made it so amazeballs? Write down everything you can remember, or at least what made a difference. Then, see what you can translate to The Real World. You might not be able to paint the trees purple, but you might be able to give yourself a purple fence in your backyard. And how awesome would a purple fence be?
- Pick up The Artist in the Office, especially if your day job is killing you. This’ll totally help you not only have fun while you’re there (as much as possible, anyways), but might even help you appreciate the gig with new eyes. I know it sounds impossible, but just trust me on this one.
- For the love of Pete, don’t bite off more than you can chew, and/or never leave time for yourself, and/or burn the candle at both ends. Nothing hurts the creative part of the practical creative then become a headless chicken. Trust me on this one, too. It’ s not a pretty sight.
Above all, try and remember that you’re not a human oxymoron. Who wants to be an accountant that does nothing but work, eat, sleep, and watch TV anyway? (Not us!)
Michelle Ward, aka The When I Grow Up Coach, works with creative people to devise the career they think they can’t have – or discover it to begin with! A certified life coach by the International Coach Academy & a musical theater actress with her BFA from NYU/Tisch, Michelle has been featured in “Newsweek” and “Metro News”; is a co-host on Spring; & encourages everyone to discover what makes ‘em amazeballs on The Declaration of You, an e-course with Jessica Swift. She could be found coachin’, bloggin’ & givin’ away free stuff at whenigrowupcoach.com.
I'm Tara Wagner, life coach and creator of the Digging Deep process, where I coach women out of survival mode to recreate their lives and families.
This is a great post! I’m off to download the 168 hours template!
Wonderful, wise words:)
Thanks super much for having me, Tara!
And thanks for your comment, Brigitte!
Exactly what I needed to read today! My husband has been out of consistent work for over a year (he was a machinist). It has caused us to evaluate what we really want out of life, and this post describes it perfectly. I know I want it, and we are starting the journey, but sometimes my fears get to me, and I think, “ya know, maybe I just want him to have a stable job with benefits, put my kids in public school and live like the rest of the world,” but we have NEVER been those people (just surrounded by them), and it’s what’s “safe” but not what drives us and makes us happy. Anyway, I’m going to have him read this for continued encouragement, thanks!
This was a GREAT post. I’ve been told, by unemployed artists, that because I hold a regular job I don’t understand or have the feelings an artist does. I appreciate reading someone else who understands what it means to feel things so deeply and yet know they have to have health insurance and a regular income. I’ve been told that my feelings aren’t as intense because I feel a need to be responsible as well.
I love to make my art, sing my songs, play my music, act on my stages – I have to have a way to share these intense feelings with the world.
I love with everything that I am. I don’t think this idea is foreign to others. I think all people are creative in their own ways and want to share their creativity with others. Because I work out in the world, because I cannot make a living with my art, does not make me less creative or loving or capable of having intense feelings.
I think the idea of of tracking my time and allowing my creative side to have space in my life is GREAT. I love sharing my creative side at my day job, even though my job doesn’t require it. It shows those folks who I am.
Sometimes there is an artist in that receptionist chair!
ah, this is so great to read. i’m going to track my hours next week using the website. i am my own boss, but i’m not ‘feeding my bank account’ doing what i truly love. it does seem like an unattainable dream… so much that i find taking even small steps in the direction futile. must. change. that. thanks for the inspiration and some tools to help!
This was great and fits me to a T. I want a career I’m passionate about. It’s all I really want.
It can be tough to strike a balance if you’re a creative entrepreneur or a creative individual trapped behind a desk. The grass is always greener!
I have many friends who have opted for a steady 9-5 with paid vacation, medical insurance, sick time, a Christmas bonus etc. They often complain that I’m living the life (I run an organic flower farm and homeschool my kiddos). Well I agree that their situation is pretty boring but I have none of the stability they do. When working for the MAN after you clock out, you’re done and the rest of the day is yours. During our busy season I work from sunrise until the job gets done (in wedding season this can often be midnight!) But despite long hours and a general lack of stability I wouldn’t trade my situation for the moon!
One last note ,I do think that under special circumstances (following a new passion or birthing a dream) that burning the candle and both ends is often required. It’s true it can wear you down but nothing AMAZING has ever come to me when I was too balanced or practical.
@Susan – Aw, thanks! So glad you liked it!
@Erika – “Safe” is a four-letter word, don’t forget!
@Judy – Who the heck are the people saying this to you?! I wanna punch ‘em in the face! Definitely definitely definitely read The Artist in the Office – it’ll speak to you for sure.
@Angela & @Jennifer – I promise promise promise that if baby steps are absolutely underrated. Take at least one each day & they’ll add up for sure!
@Erin – I wholeheartedly agree. I find myself working 60-70 hrs/wk for myself as opposed to 45/wk for The Man, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. These longer hours feel so much freer, easier & happier!
Nice post! Will have to check out the Artist in the Office. When I think about the “creativity/practicality” balance I always think of Dr. Ken Jeong, who said that acting was his “golf.” It reminded me that it’s not so hard to make time for what you want- it just so happens that many doctors make time for playing golf when they’re not in the office, whereas Ken Jeong makes time for acting… and eventually that just so happened to lead to him playing Sr. Chang on Community.
i’ve bookmarked this to read in the moments i’m tempted to drop it all and run back into a cube. it happens more often than you might think! thank you michelle!
Another amazeballs post the amazeball Michelle!! LOVE every bit of this! And, totally love that visual – feed my bank account with my passion!! GREAT visual!
Thanks for the inspiration!!!