Wednesday, July 10, 2013

So, I was in my therapist's office...

So I was in my therapists' office and the question of "what do you do to support yourself?" came up.

Usually, when I get this question, there's a lot of skepticism that follows my response of, "I make music." that usually results in the followup question, "Right...but what do you DO?" as though making music couldn't POSSIBLY be a sustainable career choice.

So, cringing and rolling my eyes, I reluctantly responded to the therapists' question
with "I make music" to which he responded, "do you make enough money to support yourself?" to which I responded "yeah" to which he responded, "wow. You must be talented" as though everyone who makes money in music is talented in music...

Now, I get it: most people who say "I'm an artist" who live in Portland are really just unemployed hippies who refuse to get a job because it would imply caving in to the man and fulfilling their parents' warning that they "will never amount to anything" and then they do drugs. However, in seeking help from a therapist, it's important for them to have a good idea of who I am. "I'm talented" has nothing to do with my ability to support myself. In fact, "you're talented" is just some excuse that unsuccessful people use to explain away the difference between themselves and successful people. Truth is, I just work to make good life decisions. Talent has nothing to do with it...unless of course making good life decisions is a talent, in which case, I'm still not talented. I just do ok.

Anyway, the point of all this is that Western therapy is stupid. But I'm cautiously optimistic. If nothing else, it'll be an entertaining way to spend my lunch hour.

If you read this whole thing, I apologize, but you should know by now that I don't really have anything that transformational to say.

Love,
Blue

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