Creativity: Career Potential or Just for Hobbies?

I consider myself to be pretty evenly balanced between the left brain and the right brain. My left-brain indulgences typically include: tackling a crafty project, writing a new blog post, or doing a design layout of some sort. (I'm having way too much fun snagging pics of great furniture and home decor to brainstorm the layout of our wee living/dining room, which necessitates some outside-the-box thinking. This probably explains why I haven't posted a Friday's Fancies post in ages. So many design ideas, so little time!)

I've also noticed that I retreat to creative pursuits when I am experiencing some pretty heavy life stuff. For example, when Mom was sick, I spent a ton of time editing my demo reels and redesigning my industry site. And now, while trying to balance fixing up and moving into a new home with planning a wedding (merely three months away, eep!), putting together interior looks and crafting the wedding site have been great outlets and quite therapeutic, really.

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I've considered over the years pursuing careers (or at least more consistent outlets) that are in the artistic realm, and M has been very encouraging in my desire to transition into an inspired field that allows me to flourish and indulge on a regular basis. (He is quite creative himself, which has been such a lovely quality to share and encourage in each other.) What that will look like, position-wise, I have no idea. I've been praying on it and will be strive to be patient in the meantime, confident that the Lord knows my heart and my strengths and will reveal that path in time.

However, I can't help but recall the struggle I felt during my first few years at college. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity (and the means) to attend Pratt Institute, an art school in Brooklyn, NY. I studied Writing for Publication, Performance and Media within the walls of its beautiful gothic buildings, often wondering how in the world a SoCal girl who was denied a spot on her high school's newspaper staff could be so blessed to call this her college experience. Two years later, I was packing for a move back. Don't get me wrong: the experience and education (both structured and otherwise) were amazing. But I found myself coming up short on the creative front as I pushed my imagination to deliver what would hopefully become my meal ticket: consistent pieces of writing that could amount to a legit career in...something. (Dreams of being a playwright in the twenty-first century don't get you far, y'all.)

If and when you can manage to make your artistic side the breadwinner in your life, it is still a creative endeavor...really? When you make what you love the very thing that makes you a living, can you still relish the exercise for your imagination and get lost in the poetry of facilitating creation with your own hands?

I sure hope so...