An artist friend of mine
dreams of making her living
by sharing her paintings with the world.
That gig is a tough one to land.
Meanwhile she has to eat
so she designs book covers.
She designs as many book covers
as she needs to,
paying the bills.
Leftover time and money
goes towards her paintings
completed with the sole purpose
of changing the world.
Because she doesn’t need to sell these paintings
tomorrow to pay rent,
she can be true to her art.
Another buddy designs software.
He’s working on a big world changing project
but as he also has to eat,
he takes contract gigs
for the cash.
The contract gigs allow him
to stick to his ideals
with the big project.
Both buddies have been accused
of selling out.
I believe it is the opposite.
They’ve sacrificed
to bring their projects to life.
The biggest thing they’ve sacrificed
is their pride.
Don’t let pride stop you
from changing the world.