I’ll never have enough money...

prerequisites to a dream

Jan 14, 2026

We’re currently exploring finding enough safety to risk trusting our creativity and its pace, no matter how slow and inefficient it feels. It’s the first main theme in my quest to unearth The Slow Artist’s Way. Last week, we talked about trying to find safety in being The Best.

Have you ever heard of “golden handcuffs”? I’ve most often seen it in tales of artists who felt trapped between a well-paying job and their creative dreams.

I used to read those stories and aspire to have the dilemma of too much money to pursue my dreams.

I’ve been told to want a steady paycheck with a 401k. And later: a six figure business. I’ve been told financial security:

1: is within my reach if I do things the “right” way, and

2: will make me happy.

I call this The Myth of the Secure Path. If I can obtain X (in this case, money), I’ll be safe to take the risk to do what I want...

I’ve never been able to test that second one, but if the “golden handcuffs” are any indication…

I’m coming up on my 43^rd birthday and, with the exception of the last year, have spent my adult life acting as if the first were true and I was just missing something.

Financial security was a prerequisite to living. If I accepted that it was unobtainable, what would I do with, as the poet Mary Oliver would say, my “one wild and precious life”¹?

I’d connect with other artists. I’d write books. I’d make art. I’d share it with you.

I spent the last year shaping my debut poetry collection, and this year it’ll be making its debut!!! I’m currently at work shaping the manuscript into a book you can hold in your hands, so the release date is TBD. But for now, will you help me throw the celebration? Reply and let me know if you’d be willing to help me spread the word.

🧐If the prerequisites to pursuing your dreams were unobtainable, what would you do with your never-to-be-lived-again life?

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