Poverty and the Arts

It has been many years since my struggle to earn a living as an actress. Despite my talent, I labored under the perception of that the purity of my art, for which I was seriously trained and commercialism (earning a real living were not compatible.) I am no longer acting, at least not on the stage. But, I still struggle with my concept of art, commercialism, and selling out.  At the moment, I am working on a novel. It is a new area of writing for me and I avoided it with a passion. I didn’t know the best way to approach the project –blah, blah, blah. So, with some encouragement  I began to write. 

Where is this line of thinking taking me? I haven’t a clue, but I know that I get frustrated when I have to write something that is not of social or artistic value. That leaves most of what one earns a living writing about out of the picture. Thus, I find myself being true to some notion of art and lacking a secure income. My artistic vision doesn’t  put food on the table nor pay my son’s college tuition bill. Sometimes, I think I am stuck in another century. I really should try to get a sponsor so that I can just go about my merry way exploring this or that artistic medium  for the pleasure of the creative experience.  

In the meantime, I will continue to struggle to write my first novel, I will fight to control my expectations of a life creatively lived, and look for writing work that can pay the bills. Anyone need a speech? Perhaps, a ghost writer? How about a letter? I was actually Ed Koch’s correspondence writer OH soooo many years ago…