The pursuit of happiness
 

I was talking about this with my drummer the other day. We were talking about our band and how it's going and so forth. I has mentioned to him that I sometimes wonder what it would have been like if I would have stayed in college. Not that I'm doubting where I'm going now it's just... a different lifestyle that I don't get to live any longer. A different lifestyle that I knew as a child I would never get to experience the full extent of. I got a little taste of it (about a year's worth) so I'm thankful for that.

I also brought up the prospect that we may be wasting our time. I asked him if he ever worried and he put it to me this way: His parents are more than willing to let him move back in, keep his freedom and go to college while they pay his bills. This guy didn't exactly skim through High School barely making it. He got accepted to several different universities, won several grants, etc. All that considered, his decision to live the lifestyle that he wants to and pursue his dream surprises me.

Now, my question to the board is this: if you're pursuing success in a non-conventional (and unlikely, some would say) lifestyle, is it a waste of time? How do you gauge your success versus someone else's? How do you gauge success at all?

I'm not looking for any insight in regards to my particular case (though if you feel the need, feel free to shoot), but if you've ever aspired (or are aspiring) to become something in a non-conventional field, how do you handle the criticism from yourself and others who say you're merely wasting your time, or are you the type person who goes with a regular conventional high school, college, job pattern and criticizes others for not doing the same?

So you're basically trying to live off playing with your band or am I missing something here? On what scale are you playing at the moment and what genre?

I've had it pretty easy with others expectations of me going into the field of music, people actually encourage me and give me lots of support to do it because they think I'm very skilled at it and many think that I've chosen right. I really want to work with music but I just don't know what I want to do in music and what I'm really capable of. There are many things that tempt me but the problems I have with the muscles in my back, neck and arms have started to make me worried. Last year I over-practiced on the guitar and got repetitive strain injuries in both my arms and fingers (I've had neck/back problems since I wasa kid). After that I took a break and started playing the piano as main instrument instead not long after. I haven't had so much problems after my break but now the symptoms keep coming up (slight pains and stiffness) even though I've been sure that I've practiced correctly, and I tend to get pains from practically nothing sometimes, just like I'm an old man or something. I want to take a break to think over everything/recover, but what sucks is that the aesthetic program I'm going to now in school is coming into it's last phases and we have this ending project where we produce somewhat of a theater and that means that I have to play even though I feel I need to take a break to recover from my injuries completely. I feel screwed in that sense.

Luckily, here in Sweden education isn't that very expensive and it'd never really be too late to start changing your mind (not in all cases I guess but most). So if I want to I could still study to become a psychiatrist if I want to (which is my second line of work I want to do if I'm not aiming for a musical career).

Oh well, enough of my rabble, if you feel it's too late to turn back don't think about it any more and give what you're doing now the best because it's what you've chosen and you just got to make the best of it. What people regard as successful always differ from person to person and in the field of music success can mean many things. I feel as long as I can live off my work with music (whatever it may be) I'm successful. What level of success are you aiming for though?

Well, today I had a major relief. I got 2.0+ GPA this term. I've fucked up my first years of university and that required me to get a 2.0 average this term or I was kicked out. Luckily all my shitty learning habits have been broken and I'm actually doing good. My pursuit of happiness is going well.

They say life is the journey not the destination, although I can't say I completely understand that. I have a similar problem to you actually divest. I'm looking into fields of work that may not necessarily give me an equal amount of return for my efforts. The required standards are so high, and at the same time few are willing to train you or give you a chance without throwing a large cash sum at them (can't say I know of many England based webdesign or graphic design companies without their standards being through the roof).

I've got to be honest and say the criticism is a killer for me, I've been near the top of my classes for some time now and yet outside of it I'm lucky if professionals will even give me the time of day let alone a job interview, which leaves me thinking who am I supposed to believe and is my multimedia diploma worth anything at all? I remember at one point people watching me working like I was some kind of street artist, but the last year or so felt like dejavu, wasting my time with old knowledge and writing reports about the projects twice as big and detailed as the project itself. Despite all the promise at the rate I'm going, I'm probably going to have to do something else while still working on my skills in those areas at best.

I guess the rule of thumb for everyone is deciding what you want and what you're willing to do to get it, it's more of a individual case thing if it's actually worth pursuing sometimes. The sad truth is someone born into a rich family for example has more chance to do whatever they want then the average joe ever will.

It's funny, you and I are so similar it's almost scary.

I play both guitar and piano, but stopped guitar because I have arthiritis in my left hand. I play keyboards, actually, but a full set unweighted, makes it easier on me.

My backup choice for a career would be a psychiatrist (or psychologist, either would be fine with me). Also, if there would be one place where I could live, it would be Sweden.

Anyways, back to your questions: yes, I would like to play music full time with my band. We play metal but not your typical style of metal. It's... different, I'll let you judge for yourself here.