The WTF are u doing with your life thread

[dismalfuture]

^^^ this. I'm going through a weird pseudo 'mid-life crisis' where I'm trying to figure out paths. I have a few great job options (one in NyC, other in Tokyo) but part of me doesn't want to really work for someone else. I have so many other ideas that I'm starting to actually put into motion, started writing screenplays again, making music, doing my own s/s collection because I fucking hate everyone elses, but at the same time I have my parents (who are both giant fucking losers) trying to talk me into going for something more "real" and down to earth. An I know I'm still young, but I really feel like I gotta make up my mind soon or everything will slip away.

to clarify, this is was not related to my post in any way. Your dilemma is called 'being 23'

[akuma no uta]

The "^^^this" was me co-signing with you. I need more creative individuals in my life.

And yeah, I'm 23. Does that mean I can't feel a slight sense of unsureness towards my future? I feel like it's too late to start something new, and too long past to take up most previously offered opportunities.

Not to get political, but I almost feel like America is going to kill me. There's just this overwhelming aura of 'fear' and doom an gloom at all times. I know it's also like that most other places, but maybe I have a slight bit of wishful thinking towards moving overseas. I know that most of my favorite writers, poets, film makers, and American designers spent time in Europe before they really "made" it, and most of them attribute it to moving overseas. I'm probably just romanticizing it way too much.

[poly800rock]

if there is one thing i regret about my 20's its not moving abroad. I did my fair share of traveling, but never really moved away like I had planned.

[fallen angels]

if there is one thing i regret about my 20's its not moving abroad. I did my fair share of traveling, but never really moved away like I had planned.

same here man

[Dead_Wizard]

Been in a bit of a funk for most of my 26th year on this planet. Getting my shit sorted out now. Working full time, paying off my credit cards, reading and writing a ton, and trying to get a project off the ground with a few friends.

Will probably be applying to a handful of top tier creative writing MFA programs. Plan is to only consider it if I can score full funding, as I currently have my older MA debt to worry about.

[fang]

moving to berlin in a week :x

[Guest WhitePowerBill]

I'm ex-communicated from my old Klan. Lonely and searching for a new one. Do you know how hard it is to find a meeting outside of rural Georgia?

[Knugget]

this ain't superconfessional

[amardeep]

I'm at that twice-a-day-existential-crisis stage of my life.

[akiragreat]

dicked around for 4 years in community college, somehow got into university with a shit gpa. I feel like I've gotten an extra life token in some video game. But then again, flunking out of school couldn't have been the end...I'm 23 and I still think about what I wanna "be" when I get older...ha

[OkayOkay]

Hey Gramps, I def see your point, and a lot of what you said is valid, but I think we're on 2 different subjects. I'm not debating the value of art or artists necessarily, I'm more focused on younger people maybe turning to art school (and fashiunz school) as an idealistic / easy way to "do college", and how a lot of the time it's a really bad move. What I'm referring to are kids who don't necessarily know what they're getting themselves into by limiting their options to earn a real living, I'm not putting down art or artists or saying they aren't relevant or important. In fact, I really, really appreciate when I see an artist working to make it. I have a close friend, Joe Polillo, and he's been on the grind for a really long time. Sometimes he hits it right and makes some money, but he knows it's a tough road and does what he can do to keep moving forward. I know some artists can hit it right, make the right connections and do great, but those are exceptionally rare. It'd be like me being a mediocre baseball player and tossing all my other options out the window and only committing to playing MLB one day because it's "my dream". I don't wanna wake up at 40 with nothing, working at a coffee shop and being like...what the fuck happened? Maybe the only other way I can explain what I'm saying is I have a couple friends that turned 18 and got their hands and knuckles tattooed immediately, they call them "job stoppers" and they had this romantic idea of never working for the man and forcing themselves to pursue their dreams and whatever. It totally sounded like a great idea at the time, but they're all my same age now, and "the plan" hasn't worked out as well as they hoped for all of them. One guy is doing well, drumming and building drum kits, and that may provide for a long time...for for the other 3 they're sitting there comparing notes on what they hoped their lives would be like to the reality of trying to fit in as an adult now...and it's really hard and disheartening to realize you maybe made a possibly bad decision. My other point is that I maybe just don't understand what you need to go to school for to be a good / relevant artist, dancer, theater major, etc. I could be waaaay off base here, but do art majors paint better, or have a higher rate of commercial success than people that just make art and are naturally good at it? Does a mediocre artist, dancer, whatever go to college and come out more in demand (and I'm talking in general, not that one guy who someone's sister's co-worker dated).

I'm going to play devil's advocate here. This is pretty misanthropic. I think you're building a strawman fallacy out of people who choose to enter noncommercial fields, by evoking the persistent mono-myth of everyone's invisible rich parents.

Yes, it's true that because post-secondary education is shamefully expensive in the West, and because the arts have become so dependent on the University system for patronage, the arts world has a class distinction, but it is not homogeneously so. I think that in trying to make a socio-economic distinction between artfags and people with real jobs you make it seem like art cannot be important, and cannot fulfill a civic and social function, which it can, and does. But it seems like you're playing into the Western idea that only things that perform an economic function have that kind of currency. It's funny in that by shitting on people who don't want to live an upwardly mobile, financially stable job, you don't realize that you are essentially making fun of the working poor. Which, by choice or not, a lot of artists are.

All I know is I am an artist and I have a BS degree, but I also have a fulfilling, demanding job in the non-profit sector, and I pay my rent on time. And I still hate the idea of working the types of jobs you were just talking about.

This would up sounding pretty critical, but I'm really just trying to join the conversation.

[narwhal]

everybody giving advice and also saying 'disregard this part of so and so's advice or disregard this advice' blah blahggh shit blah i give you bruce lee:

“Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.â€

[gramps]

Yeah thanks so much.

"Free your mind and your ass will follow."

[Magsåvningsreserven]

Agreed.

'When the eagle flies, it does so with its mind. When the dullard ask sensei what the time is, books have pages.'

[eggshell]

but do art majors paint better, or have a higher rate of commercial success than people that just make art and are naturally good at it?

do accounting majors account better, or have a higher rate of commercial success than people that just account and are naturally good at it?

seems to me like your view of the arts isn't as dandy as you claim, if you're asking these questions, or maybe you just have never gone to school and don't realize that the networking and professional development is a huge part of the learning, maybe even more important than the actual trade skills learned

[destructodisk]

people who for even a moment entertain the notions of "lots of people fail trying to do this" or, "statistically speaking, not many people are sucessful as (profession x)" won't get into the nba, make it as a painter, or as a musician because they're more concerned with not being one of those "failures" than understanding what it takes to become a success.

it's astounding to me, so many friends, and even members of my family are quicker to dish out "statistics" on the adversity i supposedly face as an aspiring musician rather than help facilitate my growth in some way.

stay #POSITIVE people goddamn! just work harder than anyone you know at something you care about and success will be yours.

[redX]

What about theater degrees... a good friend of mine is going to school for theater, I can't imagine what one would do with that.

theaters are everywhere in europe and in the large cities i've been to in the US. while i'm sure it's super cometitive the theater 'industry' or system (every aspect that goes into a play or performance) has always seemed very complex to me. like making movies isn't just a dude acting in front of a camera and someone saying 'action' and 'cut'

[OkayOkay]

do accounting majors account better, or have a higher rate of commercial success than people that just account and are naturally good at it?

seems to me like your view of the arts isn't as dandy as you claim, if you're asking these questions, or maybe you just have never gone to school and don't realize that the networking and professional development is a huge part of the learning, maybe even more important than the actual trade skills learned

I graduated from USF with an Econ degree, and own my own business. I'm not artistic or necessarily creative in the least, and I don't at all know what it takes to be a "successful" artist. I just know that I buy art somewhat often, and I've never asked if the artist I buy a piece from went to school for it. I'm also just speaking from my experiences and the people I've interacted with, and my assessment of their ability to apply their art or theater degrees to their future is pretty accurate. I'm not trying to dash hopes and dreams of being whatever someone wants to be, I'm just saying that maybe a film or tuscan art appreciation degree might not be worth the expense when looking for a job, and it might be wise to not assume you'll always want to be a struggling artist doing it because it fulfills you spiritually or whatever. I think a lot of 18-22 year olds might understand this perspective better in 5-8 years.

And yes, accountants that go to school to refine their skills by in large do substantially better than those that are just naturally good at it. That's a pretty silly rebuttal.

[activist]

I'm not doing anything:( ...and here is the whole problem.

[eggshell]

And yes, accountants that go to school to refine their skills by in large do substantially better than those that are just naturally good at it. That's a pretty silly rebuttal.

you do realize that this is what i was getting at, right? that in any profession, people will have better chance at success?

and your not really saying anything new, everyone [including self-aware art students] realizes that most who study art will end up not doing it, and possibly struggling or having to do another degree... that's why i'm doing my undergrad in econ and not in fine arts

[joeydonuts]

dicked around for 4 years in community college, somehow got into university with a shit gpa. I feel like I've gotten an extra life token in some video game. But then again, flunking out of school couldn't have been the end...I'm 23 and I still think about what I wanna "be" when I get older...ha

I'm 32 and still do the same so don't feel bad.

I am really stuck in a rut right now. I worked from 19-29 in Silicon Valley doing a job I hated (accounting) made a shit ton of money and decided that I wanted to start my own business and work for myself. Long story short, things didn't work out and my cash is basically running low after 3 years with no income and huge expenses related to starting said business.

I know I could go back and work in accounting but I can't stand it. The other problem is that I never actually finished college so if I were to go into another field, it would be hard to get my foot in the door. I'm just kinda stuck right now and not sure what I should do. Can someone talk some fukkin sense into me and tell me WTF I should do? I like money and got VERY use to making a 6 figure salary,. though living where I do (bay area) that is barely above the poverty line.

Oh and for some reason I'm goign to Europe in 2 weeks. Not sure why, but I figured it might help me clear my head and help me decide what it is that I should be doing with myself.

:confused: FML

[ohsnap]

i have a honest question:

how does one get into fashion? i'd love to hear some insight and experiences from somebody on here who's been in the industry for a while

[Stylish Pilot]

Interview with American Eagle Airlines in September. Pretty excited.

[TTM]

hung out with a friend of mine in my graduate program who has one of the most distinct personalities i've ever come across.

She is PhD track in engineering, a hugely technical and 90% male dominated field. This chick somehow found her way into it, no clue how. None of her colleagues can stand her and she appears to be pretty much clueless when it comes to technical aspects of research. However I'm positive she will be very successful.

She's a cute girl with a bubbly sorority girl disposition and an absolutely shameless networker and name dropper. Older guys in the field, like bosses and big decision makers, always want a piece of her but her peers want nothing to do with her. It pisses me off too but i have to admit, when I'm around her i'm taking mental notes!

[Bona Drag]

lawl skool

2 wks in

plz kill me

[rapdancin]

just got offer packet for a new intern/part time temp position while i finish off grad degree part time

wootah

[DüM]

I was hoping you would just post 'rapdancin'

[azif]

Worried about getting sacked...

My antisocial behaviour is finally going to screw me up.

Might have to move from consulting to corporate life.

[sjnv]

Worried about getting sacked...

My antisocial behaviour is finally going to screw me up.

Might have to move from consulting to corporate life.

What kind of consulting do you do? Don't have to be social in corporate life?

[OkayOkay]

i have a honest question:

how does one get into fashion? i'd love to hear some insight and experiences from somebody on here who's been in the industry for a while

which side of the industry are you interested in? If it's retail or wholesale I could probably help a bit. If you're more interested in manufacturing I'd PM Drew...not sure who else here works in that side of the field. If you really love it def pursue it, but don't do it for the money. There's WAY easier ways to earn a living out there...