Work as Art: The Rise of Creative Entrepreneurship

There is something magical happening in our consciousness and economy, something that’s not totally new but has recently reached a level of critical mass that makes it more visible, more palpable, and more accessible than ever before.

The simple pursuit of things that light us up inside, relegated beyond the role of hobbies and secret passions to something front and center in our professional lives.

I’m talking about entrepreneurs, freelancers, artists, creators, business-owners, independents, those who are navigating the fine line between business and pleasure, and balancing their creative and logical minds with a newly refined level of expertise.

I’m talking about people who pursue cool things they love and make money doing it.

Yes, sometimes this balancing act requires that we take on work that pays in order to fund our ideas, but then WE MAKE THOSE IDEAS HAPPEN, and that often leads to invitations to do more of that, setting up an exhilarating (and sometimes scary) career where we are the masters of our time, priorities, and income.

The value system has shifted so that more people are inclined to think big, take risks, and follow their dreams.

Many are applying those efforts towards making the world better, healthier, happier, and more sustainable; towards helping others and expanding the possibilities for everyone to thrive with resources and support, not just the fortunate minority, and towards fulfilling some mysterious inner calling. 

Income is not the primary objective of work.

More and more are stepping up and saying “I refuse to spend 40 hours a week doing something that crushes my soul for a paycheck and benefits, I’d rather spend 60 hours a week doing what I love, earning less for a while, and forging my own path forward.”

Does such a career lifestyle come with it’s own set of drawbacks? OH YES, it does.

It’s hard, really hard sometimes. You have to hustle for clients, charge varying rates, barter for services, figure out taxes and other legal issues. It’s not for everyone, and I’m certainly not saying that it should be. But there are rewards too, and the point is that the world is ready for this and it’s happening.

This year I joined this incredible tribe, but it was only after years of observation of the pioneers who paved the way and showed that it was possible for the “average person” to succeed and thrive without the safety of the corporate structure I was previously attached to.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could just invent my own job but that’s exactly what’s happened.

My fusion of content management, strategy, copywriting, photography, wellness, and more recently co-founding a coworking space have fused into a career where no two days are ever the same.

The ability and freedom to use the entire range of one’s skills and talents not only creates a happier worker and more interesting work, it contributes to a shift in paradigm that will permeate all of our lives.

Clearly, I think this is pretty cool, and I just had to say so.

I will leave you with a book to explore this further. Zen and the Art of Making a Living was published in the 1970’s by brilliant author and thinker Laurence Boldt. It was ahead of its time then and in many ways still is, but we’re just starting to awaken to some of the ideas he shares there. I highly recommend it, and here’s a quote:

“The highest order of duty to self is to follow your bliss. To thine own self be true. The highest order of duty to society is to make your fullest contribution to its well-being. These duties meet in life’s work. They may appear (especially in the short-term) to be in conflict, but in the long run of a life span, they can be seen to be threads interwoven so tightly as to be almost indistinguishable.”