I'm get disillusioned at times when it comes to pursuing my passion as an artist to financially support myself. When many people hear when I say I'm an artist, they ask (some just wonder) what my 'real' job is. Being an artist IS my job.
If I had the passion for engineering, I'd be employable, viable. If I were a mechanic, I could run my own garage. If I were a nurse, I could potentially work at any hospital in the world. I've never heard anyone ask an accountant what their 'real' job is. Anyone who's good at industrial and scientific skills don't seem to be questioned about their passion as being viable and productive citizens.
Because I'm an artist, I'm taken less seriously. My job seems to provide nothing tangible other than markings on canvas and wood that make your wall space less boring. The benefits to society are somehow missed, long forgotten; especially here in the USA. If my 'talent' was more technical, more scientific, more productive, perhaps I'd garner the same lauding the local plastic surgeon, architect and city planner does.
It can make me feel like my talent, my passion, what I feel born to do isn't as viable as the chef who can make the perfect souffle or the electrician that can wire an entire amusement park. What I do is create art that make people think, feel joy...smile. How, is that NOT viable to our society and species? Does not our small joys in life count for something? Why would people keep things of beauty if they held no value to them? There must be something viable about the macaroni art your kid did at age 6 that you STILL have all these years later!
I've always understood that we need things in our lives to remind us that it's not all drudgery, that there are things out there beyond our ability that others can create and share for us all to enjoy? That's what all artists do; from the potter that makes the coffee mug you enjoy every single morning to the weaver that made your favorite scarf or the designer who created that fabulous print on your couch. Every one of them does something that is VIABLE!
Whether singing, dancing, making jewelry or writing prose, all of the arts are viable and necessary. All artists provide tangible, viable 'product' to humanity. Art quells and soothes. Art incites thought and emotion and action. Art mimics life and inspires dreamers. Art creates connections that helps us grow, learn and understand ourselves and each other. I can't see anything being more of worth than that. 