Why do we do this?
Out of context: Reply #39
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- d_rek0
I was raised by a pretty traditional roman catholic family. We're talking a generations of relatives whose highest ambitions were to get a factory job, work it for the next 20-30 years of their life and then retire. Fuck that.
I have always had latent artistic ability but it was never exactly encouraged by most of my immediate family that I should pursue a career as an artist/designer. And the area I was raised in was so culturally devoid and unaware that when I took that stupid test in high school about "Choosing a Career" I ended up not being able to complete it and having to talk to a counsellor about it. Most people from that area still think of artists/designers as someone who exclusively oil pants.
After I graduated I still didn't understand that I could make a living making art commercially. It wasn't until I attended community college that I really started to understand what graphic design was as a profession and through some excellent mentoring was set upon that path.
Now I've had more jobs than I can probably remember: bus boy, waiter/server, bartender, short-order cook, frycook, furniture mover, delivery boy, counting inventory for retail stores, lawn care... and those are the ones that I can remember. The only thing that I ever really loved doing as much as I do now is when I worked in a greenhouse (and someday hope to do this again, either personally or as a business) but none of them have ever been something that I can say I aw myself having a career in.
That being said there is no other career that I could have chosen that allows me to express myself artistically while generating a sense of reward and pride for creating something. Not only that I get paid to draw/sketch for hours on end and then to fuck around on the computer and make sweet shit! It's the cats-ass!