Gifted Underachievers

Money is a weird conversation. There are so many permutations in how we live, and there’s very little public data on salary ranges for creatives. We know what cops, teachers, and government clerks make, but the range for creative workers is from SFA* to millions a year.This may be because we don’t actually have employers—we “hire ourselves” by deciding to take the artist’s path. So much of that path is affected by outside forces, as well as by our own work ethic, skill, and talent, that it’s easy to look back and think “I should have made more money by now.” How do you stop that voice in your head?Questions for Listeners:* Do you tell people how much money you make from your creative work?* Do you work a stable career and do your creative work on the side?* If you had it to do over again, what would you do differently this time?For Further Exploration:Canadian Artists and Content Creators Economic Survey Report: https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/copyright-policy-publications/results-survey-artist-content-creators.html· Key findings* Respondents’ creative incomes are volatile and low* Many respondents still rely on traditional income sources* A majority of respondents are self-employed* The pandemic hit some fields particularly hardLessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lessons_in_Chemistry_(novel)Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.Thanks for reading Gifted Underachievers! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.Show your support and get a free book!Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

During a recent hospital stay (painful and a big bummer, but okay in the end) James was told by a nurse, “You own your life.” This affected him deeply and generated a lot of thoughts about what it means to own your life.In this brief segment, Pat and James unpack this idea.Questions for Listeners* What does it mean to own your life?* Do you own your life?For Further ExplorationBuy us a Coffee and Win a BookHere in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide!Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

Pat and James work very hard at their creative-adjacent businesses. Sometimes, too hard and to the point where their own creative work can suffer. Part of that imbalance is the desire to grow their businesses because that’s how they earn a living. Growth, in this context, often equals money and the resources to support their creative work. But is growth for the sake of growth a good thing? What would happen if the Gifted Underachievers focused on other forms of growth than money—growth that’s tied into a deeper, more personal set of metrics?Questions for ListenersWhat’s your policy around growth?For Further ExplorationCompany of One by Paul Jarvis:https://a.co/d/00zLgQiWBuy us a Coffee and Win a BookHere in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 20 coffee angels will get a free guide!Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

We can look at creativity as a lifelong habit of being in the world. The urge to create might be stronger in some people than others, but are we all born with it? Or does our creativity depend on environmental factors as well?According to David Cox in The Guardian:The brain is divided into two halves, or hemispheres, that are joined by a bundle of fibres called the corpus callosum. Writers, artists and musicians were found to have a smaller corpus callosum, which may augment their creativity by allowing each side of their brain to develop its own specialisation. The authors suggest that this “benefits the incubation of ideas that are critical for the divergent-thinking component of creativity”.Talk about lateral thinking! What do you think…were you born creative, or is it more of a habit you learned?Questions for Listeners* Were you born creative?* Do you have creative relatives?* What’s your perfect environment for fostering creativity in yourself (and others)?For Further Exploration“Are Some People Born Creative?” by David Cox, in The Guardian (2013):https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2013/sep/19/born-creative-study-brain-hemingway“Neuroscientific Studies of Creativity,” by Park, Kim, and Hahm, in Dementia and Neurocognitive Disorders, 2016: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6428025/Buy us a Coffee and Win a Book!Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide!Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com

A recent road trip by Gifted Underachiever Pat led her to some thoughts on how far we can go in using other people in our art. Can we base characters or story events on people we know and things we’ve seen happen to them?If yes, what are the limits? If we change everything just enough to make it impossible for our inspiration to recognize themselves, is that okay?We say sure, why not?Questions for Listeners:* If you found details of your life in a novel by someone you knew, would you freak out or would you understand?* Have you ever used someone else’s image or circumstances either to create your art or to make it better?* If yes, was there any fallout?For Further Exploration:Author Accused of Using Classmate’s Story: https://www.thedailybeast.com/writer-amy-griffin-accused-of-using-classmates-sexual-abuse-story-as-her-ownShow your support and get a free book!Here in the GU Clubhouse, we’ve gleaned and gathered incredible wisdom from our creative guests, whom we fondly call the Gifted Achievers. We’re putting this wisdom into a series of handy guides so listeners can study how to make a good living doing what you love. Click the coffee cup below and you’re on the list! The first 100 coffee angels will get a free guide!Thanks for listening to Gifted Underachievers! This post is public so feel free to share it.If you’re not already a subscriber, we’d love to have you in the GU Clubhouse. No cost, no spam, unsubscribe anytime. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit giftedunderachievers.substack.com