What Do Your Friends Do?
Yesterday Adam and I were able to spend a solid two hours with our friends Josh and Megan over coffee & tea and it was good for the soul. I have known Megan since we were fourteen years old and both had an interest in art. We stayed close in college while both majoring in the arts. We painted, designed, sculpted + more.
Fast forward nine years and here we were: married, owning businesses, owning homes and yet still creating. I realized on our way back to Columbus that many of my close friends throughout my life haven’t been artists or designers. Besides Megan and my friend Kellyn, it has always been a bit scarce. I miss watching talented people create right in front of me. Less tech, more hands-on.
What do your friends do? Do you all have similar occupations or hobbies? Do you think that’s important or do you think as we get older those things don’t matter quite as much?
A Consideration
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Comments (14)
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Changing careers does have a huge impact on that. Adam did the same at age 25 or so. I love having a variety of friends but lately there hasn’t been balance between artist/designers and then everyone else.
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Meg
So glad we’ve stayed friends for (oh my gosh so) long. :) It’s good (but uncommon) to have friends who’ve seen you through many life changes/seasons, and know the core of who you are.
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I luckily come from a very creative circle. At home, they were all illustrators, decorators and seamstresses. From early teen years, my friends were with me in bands, drama groups, and so on. Today some are fashion designers, others movie directors, actors, dancers, photographers… I didn’t stop to think about it until now. :)
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That’s amazing!! What do you think you’ve learned the most from creatives in other fields/industries?
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I probably learned to not give up. Because living off art can be a bitch in Brazil (where I grew up). Still, if they are doing, I sure as hell can do it -being that I’m in the NYC area and things are muuuuuch easier here. They are a huge inspiration.
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I was thinking about this recently myself! Coming from a background in medicine, and with my husband being an engineer, I’m the only one of my friends pursuing a creative career. I was kind of lamenting this, but I realized that the bright side is if one of my friends needs something creative done, I’m their go-to person! :)
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As we get older, I actually think we gravitate more towards people who have the same general values rather than the exact same interests/careers. My friends are all so educated and talented (I’m one of the only ones WITHOUT a Master’s degree haha), but we all work in completely different fields. But there seems to be this common thread throughout all of us that we all want to make a difference somehow and we all want to love what we do. And with every person, it looks so different! Sometimes it’s good to connect with people who share more similar jobs/hobbies/passions, but I’ve learned SO much from my friends because they are in fields soooo different from mine! Anyways, just my two cents! :D
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I TOTALLY agree and see this in my life. When I first moved to Columbus, I made friends with people I rarely talk to anymore and it had a lot more to do with values, stages in life, etc.
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I have a good mix. I only have a handful of friends that also work in hospitals like I do and it’s nice to talk about work and not have to explain the minute details of the job. They just get it, but I also have a bunch of friends that don’t work in healthcare at all and that is a breath of fresh air (art, sales, law, construction) . I have loved getting to know new friends who are self employed. It’s a nice reminder that there is more than one way of earning a living. I think it’s so great you have such a long lasting friendship. Sadly, I don’t keep in touch with anyone prior to undergrad. I wish I had those types of friendships, but I just look to the future and the great people I have yet to meet.
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i’m bad at keeping in touch with people, unfortunately. But I agree – I like the balance and having a variety of friends in different fields.
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Susan Porter (@susellwrites)
I think I have a good mix. And– I made a radical career change at 32-35. I was a banker. I finished an MBA. Now I am focused on being very, very creative.
I think it is important to surround yourself with a variety of supportive viewpoints. Those who will support you no matter what and those who will support you by saying– Um, whoa, like take a pause… It’s all about balance.