Episode 15: Pro is for Prolific or Procrastinate?

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It’s an age old artistic question: does the aim of being professionally creative destroy or empower the impetus for actual creation? Whereas one’s mind may go to the adage of “do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life,” anyone who has assigned an occupational dimension to artistry has almost certainly wound up, now and again, wondering if they even love what they’re doing anymore—what with the sheer amount of thankless labor and eroding expectations that inevitably freckle that path. Even more embarrassingly, they could end up starting an amateur podcast about that very dynamic…

In this episode of Nah-cademics, Brett and John attempt to get to the bottom of whether the professional aspiration actually helps to inspire the very creative expression it seeks to market, or whether adding a business component is a crippling obstacle that leads to artistic stagnancy. 

-Does the goal of making art your job—and the implication that doing so means sharing and pleasing an audience—actually propel the artist forward, or does it sap the blissful freedom that inspired you to create in the first place?

-Are the creative mindset and the business mindset mutually exclusive, or is there a healthy balance that can be struck which utilizes the best facets of both frameworks to be the most authentic and productive artist one can be? 

-Do Brett and John honestly think that making this podcast is an outgrowth of… lmao… professionalism?

As always, this podcast offers no definitive answers to these questions (well, except that last one: hahaha no, we’re laughing right along with you—and by “you” we mean Brett’s mom). It is but the aimless ambling of amateurs. However, if you find yourself worn out and wandering through the minefield of dreaming of an artistic vocation and gradually wondering whether you even love it enough to keep on, this podcast is for you. 

Come, overthink with us!

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