No Industry Like It

"Being an artist is the only line of work where you're considered a quitter if you move on to something else," I heard a friend say. "If you're a lawyer and then decide to teach, nobody says anything. You just switched careers."

I thought about his words for quite a while after our conversation. He had a point. Not only does walking away from being an artist often entail a stigma, but far more difficult, the loss of identity. "If I'm not an actor then who am I?"

All I've learned is the more you build up who you are as a person, broaden your understanding of the world, and clarify the role you hope to play in it, you'll slowly evolve into a person who refuses to be defined by just one thing. 

When you take comfort in the knowing you're a three-dimensional person with skills, stories, and gifts to offer beyond your art form, you'll take greater comfort in your hiatus from your first love, however long that may be.