Pursuing a Creative Career

When you're young, it's your likes that determine what you want to be when you're older. If you enjoy being around animals, you want to be a vet. If you like food and baking, you want to be a chef. For me, I loved painting and because of this, I wanted nothing more than to spend my adult years in front of a easel, exercising my imagination with a brush and canvas. As you get older your mindset towards jobs definitely changes. Instead of focusing purely on interest, I began to take other factors into account such as income and pay, the chances of getting the career, and the length of training required for the role. What I liked and most enjoyed kept getting pushed further and further to the back of my mind, becoming less and less of a priority. Instead of thinking about what I wanted to pursue, I kept thinking about what I had to pursue in order to live a somewhat comfortable life.

As I grew up, I slowly drifted away from the idea of pursuing a creative career and before I knew it, I had my heart set on becoming a doctor. Thinking back, I can't really remember what set off this change in career paths. I was still extremely passionate about art but for the some reason, I didn't think becoming an artist was a realistic job prospect to have. Math and science weren't  - and still aren't -  my strongest subjects yet with a career in medicine in mind, I persisted through and through. The fact that I didn't enjoy either of these subjects should of indicated to me that my true career lied elsewhere. This, and the fact that whenever I tried to imagine my doctor self, I really struggled to conjure up that image. I began to realise that if I couldn't even visualise myself as a doctor, there was no way that I wanted the job enough nor would be willing to do everything it took to fulfil the role. I didn't try to make myself like the idea of becoming a doctor. That was where I drew the line. If the burning desire wasn't then I there was nothing else I could do for it.

As a kid,  being an artist was the only creative job I thought existed. At 5 years old, graphic designers, animators, illustrators and bloggers were completely unheard of. Nowadays, these are the careers I care more than anything about. One of my favourite sayings is, "Do what you you love and the rest will follow." For me, I really enjoy being creative, thinking outside the box and working with my hands. These are what make me most happy and I will remember these three things as the boxes I need ticked off when looking into potential job/occupations. Essentially, I've become my younger self again. I know what I like, my hobbies and my interests and I trust in these to help me find the career of my dreams.

I hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know what you think in the comments!