Money and/or Love

Today I'm heading into an uncomfortable corporate setting where I am to play a specific role. I look at this as an opportunity to put on a new valence. I will wear a suit and tie. I will conjure a picture, tell a story. I will bring a 'secret prop,' something I can use to find the essence of the character I'm playing. It's all basically child's play. I get paid well for taking on this work, for putting on a valence, speaking to a group of people, conjuring a particular vision.

It's nowhere near as rewarding as playing in the Black Forest Theater realm. There, the characters are much more extreme, the people I work with are more dedicated, and the cause seems more noble: entertain, enlighten. There's also this difference: one is a well-paid job, the other is a no pay labor of love. I've wrestled with this dichotomy for years, it would be great to be able to spend more time on the 'labor of love,' but would it really be 'better,' to turn that realm of pure expression into a JOB? I'm not so sure.

What is a 'successful artist?' Someone who makes a lot of money? Then how is an artist any different than a 'hip' banker? If I turn my labor of love into a money making enterprise does it ennoble it, or diminish it, or is it irrelevant either way? Money and love: two energies -- let them both flow.