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Should I follow the real world or my passion

How should I keep a passion for art in my life if I want to do something more realistic like be in the medical field do I just drop that interest or make it a hobby?

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Thank you comment icon Honestly, I think this is something that you will be able to decide once you're actually pursuing your degree. I say things because I’m not sure how much time you will have for hobbies. For some people school comes easier than others. This allows them to make lots of time for activities outside their academics. If you find yourself struggling to keep up in school you may need to dedicate your time for hobbies, to studying.That’s why I believe you personally have to get a feel for what you are able to do for yourself. There are lots of opportunities for you to continue your hobbies that are not time consuming. One suggestion is to join a club. A club lets you practice your hobby with flexible hours and network with people around you. Mia
Thank you comment icon Follow your passion and if you need you can rebrand Josh Idell
Thank you comment icon I know this is late, and you might not even be here anymore, but I wanted to answer. Take my advice with a grain of salt, especially because I'm simply a student trying to figure out my artistic career too. I think you should identify what you want to do with your art. Do you want to share it with the world? Share it online? Sell it? There are many, many options. I think what would work, depending on what you want, is to keep it as a hobby until you're sure you want to do something with it. And if you do want to do something, but also be in the medical field, you could try to be a part-time artist! The future is up to you, so consider your feelings, not just what other people think. From one artist to another, I wish you the absolute best of luck! Emily
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angie’s Answer

Should I follow the real world or my passion
How should I keep a passion for art in my life if I want to do something more realistic like be in the medical field do I just drop that interest or make it a hobby?
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Hello, Azmeena,
I am an artist and I am an art therapist. You DO NOT have to drop your passion for the "real" world. The world is made up of everyone's passions. The reason anything is anything is because someone had a passion for it and tried to do it.

So....hold onto your passion. It is yours! It is part of the real world. You can do so much with a passion for art and an interest in the medical field....since you mentioned that one. There are so many fun colleges and universities out there now with Art Therapy degrees. You can work with clients with making art with them and talking about it and how it represents what they are currently going through or questioning in their lives. It's so much fun --- and it really helps you and the client. You both grow.

If you are interested...there are many art therapy books out there now, too. I suggest getting one or two of them and reading. I am a Jungian trained art therapist - so psychology + art + play + energy + talk therapy all in one amazing career!

Hope this helped.
Go for your Passions! You have this life....go Play and Play Big!
Thank you comment icon This answer nailed it! Life does not consist of either/or! Find where two interests intersect, and, you have your answer! Kim Igleheart
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Liz’s Answer

Hi Azmeena,

I suggest that you try to incorporate your Passion and Hobbies into any professional career you may choose.

Do not every loose this Passion of your. If you forget to enjoy your own hobbies and passions no job will bring complete happiness so ensure you try to keep those passions alive and well..

Best of luck !!!
LA :)
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Ashley’s Answer

Hi Azmeena,

I love how you are passionate about art. Art is an amazing creative outlet and source of self-care. Never give up art. Everybody has hobbies and interests because these things make us happy.

I also love art. As a school counselor, I jump on every opportunity at work to be creative. I teach students how to design, we do art projects (like coloring, making snowflakes, painting rocks), and I create flyers and posters. I've found a way to maximize this hobby while I am at work and outside of work. I know you will, too. Keep being creative!
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Bob’s Answer

Try to combine the real world with your passion. Passion will give you energy, motivation, drive to help you find a balance in the real world. You dont have to give it up for the other.
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Miroslav’s Answer

Always follow your passion, the results will follow everytime you do something with strong belief.
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Aleksandar’s Answer

Follow your inner self - it will always get you were your want to be:)
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Joel’s Answer

Great question, I’ve struggled with this for years but what I’ve come to learn is you need to focus on one skill that you can monetize and get as expert at that skill as possible. There’s research that shows that as you grow in your talent with this skill, it starts to become your passion if it wasn’t your passion to begin with. There’s a book called So Good They Can’t Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love. This book has solid wisdom on this concept.
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Shelby’s Answer

Hello! I would recommend setting a personal mission or goal based upon your passion. Then you can still have flexibility in your career and keep your passion as a guiding mission. You may want to help animal shelters, but your career is in tech. You can set a goal that you want to help set up or support an animal shelter and your careers helps you get the funds to do so or you have flexibility in working hours to volunteer several times a month.
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Chris’s Answer

You need to be realistic about what lifestyle you want as that contributes to your happiness as well. Research the career path you want and if it measures up to the lifestyle as well.
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Tom’s Answer

If you have a passion give it a try. If it does not work out in the first couple of years, maybe start thinking about switching the job/field that you work in.

It's also fine if you don't have a passion yet or like lots of things. Try something and see if you get passionate about it. As a leader, I'm passionate about the technology, but day to day it's really about the joy of working with the team and helping them succeed.

It is fine to go with a flow trough a life but real world is more complicated and it force us to stay on ground and do what we need to do so we can organize our life in a way we should do (get a degree, have a family, help those who need help, etc..). Keep your passion aside and use it as your hobby.
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Jeff’s Answer

Absolutely! When you find something you're passionate about, you'll derive a determination that will help you create a career from it! Follow your dreams.
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Sabitha’s Answer

Azmeena,
There is no need to make choices which are all or nothing. Colleges do offer a major and a minor for that precise reason. You also can take electives in either area so that you have options when you graduate. Most successful people find a way to turn their passion to provide them a sustained livelihood in the long run.

My best friend is a pharmacist who also paints in her free time. She still takes art lessons and always says she will continue to do so because that is something she enjoys.

Don't give up!!
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Andrew’s Answer

Why not both?! The real world can be your passion. Think about ways to bring real-world practical applications to your passions.
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Arvey’s Answer

You do not have to drop your passion of Art. If you are interested in the medical field, pursue that with art being your escape if things get too stressed out.
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Matt’s Answer

I’d recommend finding a way to balance both things. You should absolutely continue to follow your passion while also accounting for life’s necessities that make a career a requirement. As you go down the path of balancing both, you will find times when your career requires much of your focus. During those times it is essential to have a hobby and passion outside of work to decompress. Also you will find ways to continue to balance and incorporate your passions into your life as you progress in your career. It’s important to have both things in your life.
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Milan’s Answer

Often times you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into before you actually start persue the career you had in mind. Ofeten it turns out to be completely different compared to what you had in mind. Having said that, our advoce would be to perform a pilot project n art and make sure this is something you really want. Then you can either persue a career in art or decide to go for another career and just keep art as a hobby.
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Dan’s Answer

There are many different careers that are more traditional but also have an artistic component. For instance, UI/UX design involves creating interfaces for users that meet the needs of ever more complex software offerings. An artistic eye can help a UX/UI designed to create solutions that are functional but also incredibly visually appealing. Other fields such as interior design get even closer to your artistic roots while still having a strong career growth path.
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Mayra’s Answer

You can find a Balance between your passion and the real world. Find the way to incorporate both in your day to day, if you want to pursue the medical field look for the way to innovate within the field including art.
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Matthew’s Answer

I would advise a mixture of both - I would first be checking out real world trends to find an area with a good amount of interest and investment. Then within there, explore the types of problems that exist and try to map them to a passion. Give it some time, get to know the problem space, talk to veterans in the field. But figure out fairly quickly if it seems like a dead-end or not a good match to your passions - you don't want to put a square peg in a round hole. You may be able to transition to adjacent areas or network with people with different interests than your initial real-world selection and find new opportunities that better match areas of your passion.
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Sarah’s Answer

Hi Azmeena - great question! I've always been really passionate about the arts and have performed in amazing productions - with the Philadelphia Orchestra, at Carnegie Hall and even in the world premier of a Pulitzer Prize winning choral piece. I don't do this as my day job though - it's a passion I follow outside of work. One thing I really like about pursuing the arts as a hobby is that I get to decide what I want to do and I make money through my day job to be able to support my hobbies. This allows me to be able to pick and choose the commitments I want to make - I have a lot of friends that have continued with their passions for composing, musical theater, singing, etc. this way and it's a nice balance to make sure that you're financially stable but able to do what you love.

I also have lots of friends working in the arts full time as well - it's all about figuring out what kind of work you like to do! If you think you want to practice medicine, there's no reason that you can't continue your love of the arts along with it. One of my friends in my chorus is an anesthesiologist!
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Sophie’s Answer

Hi Azmeena! As a working professional who recently graduated college, I can comfortably say... I didn't know what my passion was when I went to college! I thought for myself the best thing for me to study was Psychology. So my sophomore year of college, I decided to choose psychology as my major. It took me less than four months to decide that was the wrong choice for me and Studio Art was the major I really wanted to pursue. In those three months, while I loved Psychology, it didn't bring me as much joy as Art did- art became my passion! All I can say is take a number of classes outside of the typical route, explore, experiment and don't be afraid to go outside the box. I am an extremely successful Production Coordinator now who landed her dream job at 24. And I wouldn't be here if I didn't step outside my comfort zone, explore different classes, and take those steps!
Have a major or minor as art and the other as something medical! Play around and see how it goes! You got this!

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Priya’s Answer

Hi Azmeena,
I am learning right now that sometimes having a day job is good to also sustain an art career as well! I am still in the process of learning, but I think it is possible to hold onto your passion and hone it while training for another job/career. You may have to really have discipline, or even wait to really immerse yourself, but I think it can be possible. I heard a great quote from Hiroshi Sugimoto on Louisiana Channel's Advice to the Young (on YouTube--check it the channel for advice from artists!), in which he said that you do not have to hurry to be an artist in your 20s. You can gain experience and pursue an art career at any age. It feels true for me. I was really pressured and sad not to be able to pursue art in my teens and 20s as fully as I want. But right now, as I keep working toward my current career which I also have passion and love for, I find that I have time now to really focus on art as well in the way that I would have liked to before. And I am having just as much fun learning now as I think I would have then! Check out all of the resources online open to you, take some classes at community college, or double major if you would like--Art, I have learned, can always be built up and expanded upon, so you can always learn something that contributes to it while focusing elsewhere if needed. Good luck on your journey, wherever it leads you. I think if you keep an open mind, you may find there are not exactly "wrong" paths, but just different turns and twists on the journey. I hope you see plenty of beautiful things on yours =).
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Todd’s Answer

Having a passion for something (whether it's art, music, a sport, etc.) is wonderful. Not everyone has a passion (or knows what theirs is yet), so you're fortunate. You may have read these 2 famous quotes: "Do what you love and the money will follow" and "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” While they each have their merit, the circumstances of your career and supporting yourself may impact whether it makes sense to make art your career or keep it as a hobby.

No one can make this decision for you, as it depends on how strong your passion is for art. But would you be able to support yourself if you pursued an art career? Would being immersed in the art world every day decrease your passion? When your passion and your work mix together, there can be unexpected consequences. If the work becomes a hardship (customers, bills, problems, economic downturn, etc.), do you still feel as passionate?

I have an old friend who loved dance. She pursued it in college and made it her career. It's hard work, but decades later she still loves it. That's of course a possibility for you, but it's a flip of a coin whether that's where your journey will take you. Logic says you should make it your hobby and pursue a more stable and logical career, but logic and passion are vastly different entities. Maybe look into the field of art that you love and see what others have done who feel as you do. That may make your decision somewhat easier. Best of luck in whatever you choose.
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Riki’s Answer

You may try to follow your passion at the first place, and then find the way to match up/use your passion in the real world situation.
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Andrijana’s Answer

You should definitely follow your passion since that is what will bring you happiness in life. Maybe at one point you will think that you made a mistake but the thing is life is short and you should do what makes you happy.
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Desiree’s Answer

I am always impressed when I discover professional organizations that include outlets for creative pursuits - and many do!

For instance, the NYC Bar Association (professional guild for attorneys) has an orchestra (https://www.nycbar.org/member-and-career-services/committees/chamber-music-committee )! Practicing attorneys get to play music together and they perform at various Bar Association events. Then I learned that doctors have the same thing: https://www.doctorsorchestra.org/about/. Also, there are doctors who exhibit art together, too (https://www.scienceworld.ca/stories/white-coat-warm-art-exhibition-doctors-who-make-art/ ). And recently, there is a lot of buzz around a museum exhibit curated entirely by its security guards (https://www.cnn.com/style/article/baltimore-museum-guards-exhibit-trnd/index.html ).

Hence, I think the choice is not binary. You can have a "traditional" profession AND make your art. Depending on your profession, you might even find like-minded people with whom you can create. Or course, it's a very personal choice as to whether you want to focus your primary income source on one or the other, but you shouldn't see a career path in the medical field as an abdication of your art. The two can co-exist. And one can follow the other as your primary profession, too. As an extremely successful examples, take note of Michael Crichton, the doctor/author; Ken Jeong, the doctor/actor/comedian and Mayim Bialik, the neuroscientist/actor. Also, you can search the internet for other examples, see current Harvard medical student Ryoko Hamaguchi https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/05/ryoko-hamaguchi-puts-artistic-touch-on-her-medical-training/. You might consider emailing some of them for their advise, too!

Also, give some consideration to COMBINING your interests in art & medicine -- see https://www.creativeboom.com/inspiration/16-incredible-examples-of-medical-illustration/. Again, you might consider emailing some of the people featured in the article (many have their companies or representation listed).

Desiree recommends the following next steps:

Research professional medical associations that offer creative outlets for artists
Consider combining medicine & art (e.g., medical illusration) and research that career path.
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