I’m sure this piece will resonate with so many other writers as it does for me. Being any kind of independent artist is brutal for all the reasons you enumerated. Producing the work, trying to get the work noticed and be paid for it can transform even the most grounded person into a navel-gazing, neurotic, narcissistic mess. doing any kind of day job in my experience has been like taking off leg weights. Glad you’re trying something new. I think it will only help the work.
The floral designs are amazing. To be honest I am not sure I can empathize with a lot of your feelings here, but they were well written and thus I could sympathize.
Ultimately, you wrote this well because you were speaking from conviction and, as you have found, that is really the key.
Oh dear, Meg. When your art becomes "Hard. Hard. Hard. Hard. Hard. Hard. HARD!!!!" it is no longer art. It is just another drudgery and source of stress. Your plan makes so much sense to me. Take the pressure off, write when you are moved to write. Gather ideas in a pocket notebook while you work with flowers. Breathe deep. [ It reminds me of my own experience singing in a joyful rock band. When we struggled to turn pro, it ruined music for me -- it was just work.] The photos of your flowers were so alive, they filled my head with the clearest, freshest fragrance. Beautiful. The colors chosen for photos four and five are delicious!
I can, for obvious reasons, relate to a lot of that unease. It’s surprising how much having a toe dipped in something else—a gig, a hobby, a weekly tap-dancing contest—can spare your sanity. I’m not even good at my escapes, and I think they’ve saved my life.
This is hands-down one of my favorite things you've ever written, Meg. You 100% nailed it. If the universe was a fair and just place (it is not, as we know) *this* would be the post that turns you into an overnight success.
Also now you've obligated yourself to sharing more pictures of flower arrangements in the future.
Congratulations on your new job, Megan. Love the pep talk you’re giving yourself when it comes to writing. It reminds of Octavia Butler’s journals, she also used to tell herself that she will become a bestselling author and afford to buy a home in a good neighborhood.
As I was reaching the end of this, I made a realization. An obvious one, if we would only recognize it. We are who we are, 24/7. It never ends, and there is no quitting it, no matter how much we don't like it. A job is defined by someone else, but we are who we are. If we don't like our job, we can quit. But if we don't like our writing????
Writers need perspective, or else what's the point? Perspective is augmented by experience out there in the real world. Most of what I write stems from my own experience out there in that real world. As they say, write what you know. If I hadn't spent all those years doing the things I did, I wouldn't be the writer that I am. So, don't think of flower arranging as a job, think of it as field research...
A large percentage of the best writers in the world had part or full-time jobs in addition to writing. Only a very small number of writers can make a living at it, outside of maybe journalism (and that is becoming rarer and rarer these days). So it seems to me that you have the best of both worlds now!
It's good to have a gig that uses other parts of your brain. For instance, my buddy and neighbor Michael Earl Craig is very successful as both a poet, and a farrier. He's spoken in a couple of interviews about how having something so spatial for work (and also, horses) informs his thinky writing work. I find all my maker practices: sewing, gardening, knitting -- really keep me out of the same brain grooves ... Have fun! Flowers! and a little $$ too ...
That's a helluva good piece of writing, Meg, and an thrilling turn of events. Excited to read some 'Tales from the Flower Shop' under a pen name of Petal Fronds, a girl who indiscreetly shares the foibles of eccentric customers. But also, delighted that there's going to be balance, a valve to open to let off steam, a change of scene etc. Add in, pocket money for new notebooks!
I SO relate to this. You just stated my feelings exactly. I’ve been eyeing Indeed as well. The only problem is that I have no back talent. Ugh. Congrats on the PT gig! You’re a talented floral arranger and writer!
Congratulations on the job!!!!! Your floral designs are beautiful, but don't give up on your writing (I think you are doing a great job).
Kudos on your new job, Meg. I think you have a lot more courage than most of your colleagues.. You faced your situation and did something about it.
Keep up the good work; honesty is (usually) the best policy.
Rob in Yautepec
I’m sure this piece will resonate with so many other writers as it does for me. Being any kind of independent artist is brutal for all the reasons you enumerated. Producing the work, trying to get the work noticed and be paid for it can transform even the most grounded person into a navel-gazing, neurotic, narcissistic mess. doing any kind of day job in my experience has been like taking off leg weights. Glad you’re trying something new. I think it will only help the work.
The floral designs are amazing. To be honest I am not sure I can empathize with a lot of your feelings here, but they were well written and thus I could sympathize.
Ultimately, you wrote this well because you were speaking from conviction and, as you have found, that is really the key.
Oh dear, Meg. When your art becomes "Hard. Hard. Hard. Hard. Hard. Hard. HARD!!!!" it is no longer art. It is just another drudgery and source of stress. Your plan makes so much sense to me. Take the pressure off, write when you are moved to write. Gather ideas in a pocket notebook while you work with flowers. Breathe deep. [ It reminds me of my own experience singing in a joyful rock band. When we struggled to turn pro, it ruined music for me -- it was just work.] The photos of your flowers were so alive, they filled my head with the clearest, freshest fragrance. Beautiful. The colors chosen for photos four and five are delicious!
I can, for obvious reasons, relate to a lot of that unease. It’s surprising how much having a toe dipped in something else—a gig, a hobby, a weekly tap-dancing contest—can spare your sanity. I’m not even good at my escapes, and I think they’ve saved my life.
It helps that those arrangements are great.
This is hands-down one of my favorite things you've ever written, Meg. You 100% nailed it. If the universe was a fair and just place (it is not, as we know) *this* would be the post that turns you into an overnight success.
Also now you've obligated yourself to sharing more pictures of flower arrangements in the future.
Congratulations on your new job, Megan. Love the pep talk you’re giving yourself when it comes to writing. It reminds of Octavia Butler’s journals, she also used to tell herself that she will become a bestselling author and afford to buy a home in a good neighborhood.
As I was reaching the end of this, I made a realization. An obvious one, if we would only recognize it. We are who we are, 24/7. It never ends, and there is no quitting it, no matter how much we don't like it. A job is defined by someone else, but we are who we are. If we don't like our job, we can quit. But if we don't like our writing????
Writers need perspective, or else what's the point? Perspective is augmented by experience out there in the real world. Most of what I write stems from my own experience out there in that real world. As they say, write what you know. If I hadn't spent all those years doing the things I did, I wouldn't be the writer that I am. So, don't think of flower arranging as a job, think of it as field research...
A large percentage of the best writers in the world had part or full-time jobs in addition to writing. Only a very small number of writers can make a living at it, outside of maybe journalism (and that is becoming rarer and rarer these days). So it seems to me that you have the best of both worlds now!
It's good to have a gig that uses other parts of your brain. For instance, my buddy and neighbor Michael Earl Craig is very successful as both a poet, and a farrier. He's spoken in a couple of interviews about how having something so spatial for work (and also, horses) informs his thinky writing work. I find all my maker practices: sewing, gardening, knitting -- really keep me out of the same brain grooves ... Have fun! Flowers! and a little $$ too ...
That's a helluva good piece of writing, Meg, and an thrilling turn of events. Excited to read some 'Tales from the Flower Shop' under a pen name of Petal Fronds, a girl who indiscreetly shares the foibles of eccentric customers. But also, delighted that there's going to be balance, a valve to open to let off steam, a change of scene etc. Add in, pocket money for new notebooks!
Onwards. B
Congrats, sounds like a good move
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I SO relate to this. You just stated my feelings exactly. I’ve been eyeing Indeed as well. The only problem is that I have no back talent. Ugh. Congrats on the PT gig! You’re a talented floral arranger and writer!
I LOVE and appreciate this lesson very much. Thank you for sharing it with all of us.