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?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by nanaman

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?


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?

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.

There's nowhere I can't reach.