Thursday, March 3, 2016

Kudos To Creative People:
   Creative people work on a different time clock than the “average”  9-to-5 employee.
   I once had a young man literally sit in my family room in a corner and within a few hours into the night, he wrote a Grammy-nominated track which I'm sure has and will garner him a nice amount of compensation.  He hadn't checked into an office or punched a time clock.
   Creative people work differently and tend to grind a different way. We work on a totally different schedule than most.  But don't underestimate the power of how we work and the quality of our work.
   When my two sons, who are now out in California-the land of creative opportunity, lived at home I watched as they would often be up till 5 AM in the morning working on projects. And at 12 noon they would be knocked out. To the average 9 to 5 worker it might appear that these two grown men were slouches. And one might ask why they would be asleep in the middle of the day?  I get it, because I too tend to work more effectively off the beaten path of a regular 9-to-5 time clock and I work hard at what I do.  I have literally worked all night for several nights to get a creative project done and then took some time to rest.  Additionally, there have been times when I have been exhausted or sick yet I literally sat in my bed for several hours straight with my computer and other materials and was able to get tons of productive work done. But, the old-school-punch-the-time-clock-worker in me, when I finally would get up felt like I had gotten little done. I know now that, that is not the case.  
   So, if you are like me, and you are not prone to work like perhaps, the "average" American employee, don't fret as long as you are effectively getting the job done. Also be vigilant about getting compensated for your time, energy, and talents. Creative people can sometimes be taken for granted.
   It has been said that one should do what you love to do and are gifted at doing.  If you find a way to get paid for it, you won't have to work another day in your life.  It has also been said that creative people, when they are working in their wheelhouse and have the bandwidth and resources to do it, are the happiest people on the planet.  
   So as a fellow artist my hat goes off to all those out there who are creating in ways to inspire the world. Let's keep it going and remember your time clock and methods, though effective, might be different than most.

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