what do you do?

this penguin wants to know what I do for a living

There is a question that I absolutely loathe, one that I can easily see coming, one that I hate to answer.  “What do you do for a living?”  I suspect that many artists and even some non artists hate this question as well.  I will focus specifically on artists because we have chosen a profession that often requires us to hold a day job.  In answering that question we have to make a choice between how we actually pay our bills and what is our career.

For me the answer is complicated, and usually it goes like this, “Well, I make my money as a ________, but the rest of the time I am a writer.”  This is just too much information, with more layers than the questioner was expecting.  The first part says that I make my money doing one thing, but I don’t really care about it.  The second part says that there is this other thing I do care about, but I don’t actually make any money at that and I want you to know that is what defines me and not what I do to make money (holy shit).

That is what the question really comes down to, what defines you?  People assume that how you make your money is something you went to school for, something you love, something that they can draw conclusions from, about who you are.  That doesn’t really apply to me and all the rest of us who have a day job to support our ultimate career goals.  I don’t really care about the various ways I’ve made money and aside from the fact that they employ me, I am not defined by those jobs.  I fear that if I leave out how I eventually want to make money the questioner will get the wrong impression of me.

Just the other night this question was asked of me.  I was prepared to give my standard answer when I paused, in a split second decision I said something else.  “I’m a freelance writer,” I answered confidently.  This wasn’t exactly false, but not totally true either.  In my fantasy life this is how I make a living.  It’s not like I said I was a lawyer or a computer software designer.  I know a lot about being a writer and can hold a meaningful intelligent conversation on the subject.

Does it really matter that technically this is not true?  I was more engaged in the conversation because I could discuss the art of writing and not, HVAC or pharmaceuticals.  I wasn’t being interviewed for a newspaper article and I wasn’t asked to sign an affidavit.  So what is the harm?

From now on in conversations and all non legally binding documents I am a freelance writer.  I won’t shy away from the fact that this is not how I make my money should they inquire further.  But why would they?  Wouldn’t they rather hear what I’m passionate about and not something that I just do because I have to?

I suggest everyone try this out, artists and non artists alike.  Don’t just lie, but if you’re a practicing writer, actor, director, dancer, painter, designer, or musician it shouldn’t matter that this isn’t how you make your money.  Perhaps one day you will.  After all is saying that you’re any one of these things different than the thousands of twenty one year olds out there claiming to work for ad agencies or law firms, when really they’re just unpaid interns?