Your job and your life (or as I think of it, your work and your Work) don't have to be mutually hostile. Over the last decade as I've worked towards re-establishing a freelance writing business and started writing fiction, I've encountered some myths about practicing an art.

One myth is the idea that if you're serious about your art (this applies to any passion, actually, not just the arts), you have a burning desire to make a full-time exclusive living out of it. If that desire is absent, you're not serious. This isn't true for me, nor for a number of writers I've met. It may not be true for you.

For some of us, the first step in living a life that feels creative, whole and integrated involves coming to terms with the fact that we like writing on a part-time basis. The second step is acknowledging that this doesn't make us any less dedicated than those who want to write full time.

The final step involves figuring out ways to let our two lives feed each other, so that our job contributes to our art, and vice versa. I'll offer some of my findings in future posts.