Work, Family, Scene: You Can Only Pick Two
Life is about tradeoffs
When I first moved to Austin in 2013, I went out to lunch — fittingly — with a writer named Austin Kleon. I was a longtime fan of his book Steal Like an Artist (his book Keep Going is a new favorite). After we ate, he drove me around the city, showing me things and giving me advice.
Austin was a little older than me and was already married with kids.
I remember asking him how he made time for it all. “I don’t,” he told me. “The artist’s life is about tradeoffs.” And then he gave me a little rule that has stuck with me always:
Work, family, scene. Pick two.
Work — that is your creative output.
Family — that’s a spouse, kids, or any close personal relationships.
Scene — that’s the fun stuff that comes along with success. Parties. Fancy dinners. Important friends. This is the stuff that looks good on Instagram, that you can brag about, that falls into your lap like a wonderful surprise. Offers, invitations, perks.
It’d be wonderful if you could have it all…but you can’t.
You can party it up and hang onto a relationship but you won’t have much time left for work. You can grind away at your craft, be the toast of the scene, but what…
