Some career advice for your future self

 How do we decide which career paths to explore and take? This is a good question to contemplate as a teenager, but anyone can enjoy thinking about this. I started this project as a way to find out more about careers I have an interest in. I ended up with some insights about knowing what to think about and ask oneself relating to a career. Some of this is: trying new things, doing what you love, being patient, and letting the world take you where you need to go (with some interventions). In this paper, I will look at how 4 different artistic professionals consider few different things, including:

• What each of them does
• What they love about what they do
• What their process is like
• How each of them got where they are
• And some of their wise words of advice

So first off, why is this important? Planning for your future can help you be more prepared. Knowing where you want to go can be invaluable as a guide to getting there. Also, you don't need to know your exact destination yet! You will see what I mean by that soon. As an artist who wants a bit more knowledge from some people who are doing what I also love to do, but for a living, I got to explore. I interviewed four people who have some connection to working with fiber, which is my passion. We have a fashion designer, a costume designer, a photographer (who makes some of the costumes in her images), and an art teacher.

What each of them does

Debbie was a fashion designer who used to have a clothing brand. While she’s now on hiatus from this, she has done a ton of work designing and selling a beautiful, functional, and utilitarian line of clothes.

Ana is a costume designer who works nationally. She primarily designs for theater and opera. A costume designer works within a script, novel, or another piece of writing and tries to bring a world to life. People of this profession have specific details provided by the text. They work closely with other creative team members behind the scenes of the production.

Vannessa is an artist who has done installations, both with photography and fiber arts, but mainly does photography for now. She makes the scenes and creates stories with her camera and has millions of ideas for projects to do.

Amy is an art teacher and an artist. She has also worked in other fields such as weaving, clothing, pottery, bookbinding, and costume design; and has some good insights.  She considers herself a “jack of all trades” as she loves to work in a wide variety of mediums.

What they love about what they do

Debbie said she loves making things to bring a bit of joy into the world. It's nice to make something to make someone smile. Ana said, “With every project, another skill is learned and another world is discovered”. I agree with that. Life is a constant chance to learn. Vanessa said “Using hands is a very human thing, and it connects you to your ancestors,” when asked what she loves about her work. She loves how much sewing and the rest of what she does involves her hands. 

A family friend mentioned that one of the first lines in the bible is about creation. I find this interesting because of how influential the bible has been in history.  I find that my hands are something that I admire because even though they are tiny, they have made so many things. What is it that gives kids entire worlds in their heads? Most kids are naturally creative and have huge imaginations.

Imagination and creativity are vital to the human experience. I think that there is some sort of human desire, or maybe just an artist’s yearning for beauty, that longs to make things. There are so many ways to do this and it's such a great release.

Amy (the art teacher who teaches middle school), loves helping kids to “discover something about themselves.” She also feels accomplished when she feels like she “crafted a process that helps students feel some success in their work”

A particular challenge in teaching middle schoolers is they have low self-confidence. also, they think that they are artistic or not based solely on drawing skills. This is a harmful misconception because art can be so much more than drawing. The ability to draw again connects with hands and their creative power. Creativity is a mindset, not the ability to replicate life with a pencil and paper.

But even if you aren't pursuing a career in the fiber arts world, you will likely be using your hands. Writing, typing, cooking, cleaning, building, fixing, and so many other things are using your hands. In my mind, hands are the most undervalued contributors to society.

A common thread (no pun intended) is that these interviewees all loved telling stories. In costume design, you create the character visually. In fashion design, you help mundane people tell the world a little bit about themselves with what they wear.

In art, you can tell all kinds of stories visually, and otherwise! Think about portraiture. The expression on the person’s face tells us how they think about life, and some of the things in the background might cue us into a bit of their life. I think that most art tries to tell some kind of story.

Every breath you take tells a story, do you want it to be one of love, inspiration, learning, or tragedy?

What their process is like 

On that cheery note, let’s look at the processes of these four artists and how they go about making things. Some of them have more flexibility, and others have schedules and requirements. Each has a beginning, middle, and end with a story being told throughout.

In the theater world, the process for costume design begins a long time before the performance. The process for costume design is pretty rigid and has a set rhythm to it. This is because it follows a calendar schedule for when the performances start. But, art can take years! One of Vanessa’s installations took 3 years to make! Vanessa has much more freedom in what she does. However, while she has lots of time to be creative, she said that “projects can really balloon” and take a very long time to complete. This is because she has designed her own schedule, while Ana is on the theatrical production’s schedule.

there are constraints and freedoms to all jobs. an art teacher works within the curriculum, and a costume designer works within the text. Vanessa has a lot of free reign, yet she also needs a lot of patience to see projects through. Debbie, the fashion brand/designer got to decide when to launch a new collection but also had to plan around seasons and manufacturing. Sadly, in Debbie’s words, “There is a high cost to everything when you have a small business, and mistakes are expensive.” This explains the importance of being careful and thinking through your strategies and plans.

So, there are pros and cons to any decision in life. This includes if you want a more rigid schedule or a more relaxed one. You have to think about what you are looking for in what you want to do in life. If you don't, you will never find satisfaction. Later, we will talk about some of the questions you can ask yourself to figure this out. I think that provides a nice bridge to how these artists got to where they are now, and perhaps where they want to go next.

Trajectory

One common theme between the journeys of the 4 artists, is that they all followed winding paths to get where they are now. None of the four artists knew as kids that they would be right where they are now. Vanessa went to law school and was investigating human rights violations in prisons and jails.  Debbie went to school for English and told stories with words, first. A common insight the artists wanted to share was that there is no wrong way to get where you are going. Try things and see what works for you! Debbie attributed some of her trajectory to luck. Vanessa gives a lot of credit to “following the thread” for her trajectory. This means trying to be a leaf on a river, and go where life takes you. This does take patience, but it's a useful idea to think about.

Smart Decisions

Debbie reminds us that, “a lot of it is knowing when you need a change and going for it.” You will likely not be doing the same thing for your entire life, so there is importance in knowing when to move on. There are a lot of factors in making good decisions, and every case is different!  For Amy, some of the main factors were money and time. As an artist, you do still have to pay your rent. Amy shared questions she finds to be important ones to ask when thinking about your future. They are all related and I made them into a small diagram explaining it. These are all questions to ask yourself when considering a big decision. You will make mistakes, that is a fact of life. Making them recoverable is the best thing you can do. And if you put your priorities at the center, it will be easier to make sure you’re on the right track, even when you make mistakes.

Let’s try some examples for the diagram:

What kind of life do you want? Do you want kids? Countryside or city? Do you want to work for yourself or someone else? What general area/field do you want to work in?

What do you like to be around? Do you want a quiet workplace or more talkative co-workers?  Would you want something competitive or would you prefer somewhere that valued teamwork? Do you want somewhere with lots of greenery or would you prefer a room with big white walls?

How are you valued?

What do you love? Are you passionate about flowers, math, music, writing, cooking, all of the above, or something else? 

What do you like to do? Would you rather spend your time inside or out? None of these are choices you have to make yet, but putting some thought into them could help.

For me, I'm fine knowing a few answers. I can make peace waiting to make other decisions. this is likely because if COVID-19 taught me anything, it's that you are allowed to change your mind. After all, the world is changing too. And that change is the only constant in all of life. Your wants and needs will change over time, so being flexible with that is invaluable. Having a dream or an idea of where you want to be can give you some clarity, and a direction to go towards. But just remember that you can change your mind and your path doesn't have to be straight.

Finding Fulfillment

“As long as you can find the time to do the things you love, you will find fulfillment.”

Vanessa said this when asked what advice she would give to her past self. Fulfillment doesn't come from being rich, though it is easier to find happiness if you're not worrying about money. Fulfillment comes from the satisfaction of doing something you didn't think possible, but then you grew and were able to do it. You won't find satisfaction if you're not being challenged. As a sewist, I make so many mistakes in every project I make. I learn something new every single time. At this point, I have made 4 iterations of a specific shirt, and I think it will be exactly where I want it at the 5th. The first time, the shoulders didn't fit right. The second time the collar kept slipping and didn't sit right. The third time the color of the fabric was fading and the sides were finished differently, and the fourth time I set the sleeves too high. I learned from each of those variances, and I still wear each shirt, except for the first. I have learned so much in these past 4 years of sewing, about sewing techniques, sure, but also about making mistakes and persisting, and how I work. Sure, if you succeed on the first try, it might feel good. But then you get bored. You lose interest when you're not being challenged. So push yourself, and know that you have to fall to. After all, get back up. 

The line to where you want to go will likely not be a straight one. You will get where you need to go, it just takes a bit of patience. Finding satisfaction is not an easy journey, and I doubt anyone has gotten all the way there. But with some patience and good choices, plus a bit of luck, you can get pretty close. Good luck and I hope this has helped.