Six reasons I get out of bed to paint everyday

Just like anything else, a successful career in art requires dedication, tenacity, and a reason to get up in the morning.  So here are six reasons why I choose to get up everyday and create.

Reason Number 1: Money

While not the most glamorous reason, let’s be honest, it is pretty essential.  Even if a person is trying to live simply, it is pretty tough to get things like supplies without money.  Personally, I am a family man, so I have more responsibility to provide.  Maybe someday I could work a few hours a day in a garden that feeds my family, with solar/wind power for the house, a water catchment and filter system that can provide enough water for my family, but just getting to that point requires money, and there are still plenty of money sinks left to plague a person.  So, while perhaps by itself, money wouldn’t be enough of a motivator to get me up and happy everyday, it is definitely a factor.

Reason Number 2: The Best Career I could have

Getting away from the mercenary note of reason number one, I have to say that making a living through art is the best career I can imagine.  I am able to work around my family (my wife handles many aspects of our business) so I get to see them throughout the entire day, everyday.  A bigger blessing, I have a tough time imagining.  Beyond that, however, I get to be my own boss which means I can set my own hours, vacations (or lack thereof), choose how I spend my time every day, and control every aspect of how I run the business.  While this is also a huge weight of responsibility, it provides a great deal of freedom and satisfaction.

Reason Number 3: Creative outlet

I think most creative minded people would agree that all those creative ideas absolutely need a place to go.  They get all bunched up inside the head and scream to be let out.  Being able to stream that creative energy out on a daily basis is therapeutic, and as a bonus, productive.  There is also the immense joy that I get out of creating something out of nothing.  Before me sits a blank page, an empty canvas, a white screen, and all I have are a few brushes, pencils, and pens.  The two meet and beauty, or tragedy, is the result.  Either way, something exists where before there was nothing.  It’s always amazing to me.

Reason Number 4: Passion

If number three didn’t hint at it, let me make it clear, art stirs my soul.  Art, in all its forms, has been the chronicle of the human experience.  All of its highs and lows, achievements and failures, have been recorded in art and quite often in ways which speaks truer to the human spirit and soul than something like a history textbook ever could.

My work at creating art challenges me in every aspect beyond anything else I’ve ever done.  It is a challenge that I absolutely need to survive, and to stay sane.  It flexes all the right muscles and scratches those itches deep down in my brain.

Reason Number 5: Better than my other jobs

I didn’t start out life as an owner of my own art studio.  When I was younger I wanted to work with computers, I even started college as a computer science major.  When that faded I went into psychology, working at a psychiatric hospital until I finally admitted that it left me feeling hollow.  Then I tried finance, trading emerging market ETFs on the stock market, making more money than I ever had before, and I couldn’t get away from it fast enough.  Throughout everything, art was always there behind the scenes.  I was always sketching, painting, drawing or designing 3D animations on the newest software I could get a hold of.  It always satisfied me more than anything else I was doing.  So if I ever need a kick to get up in the morning, I just think about what else I could be doing instead.

Reason Number 6: Family

Finally, the sixth reason that I get myself out of bed to paint everyday is for my family.  As I briefly mentioned before, I am a family man, and very happy to be one.  If I had to say what the best benefit is of my current career it would be that I get to be around my family so much.  Everyone that I know who works in other industries seem to barely see their families.  I’m always hearing about people missing major life moments, sometimes even the birth, because of their jobs.  I hear about life/work balance which seems to typically come across as people feeling guilty about one thing or another.  I don’t have to worry about any of that.  I’m always around and I love that.

So that’s it!  There are other reasons of course, but these hit the major points without going into too much depth.  I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my motivations, feel free to leave yours in the comments.  Next week I’m hoping to have a post about my most recent painting.  Stay Tuned.