I just finished creating an independent film.   If it sells, great.  If it doesn’t, that’s okay.   Why?  Because I am a full time artist who doesn’t need to worry about money.  No, I am not a rich or famous artist.   I am an ordinary woman who became my own arts foundation. 

My plan to be a financially independent artist was inspired by my frustrations as a creative person in the corporate world.   Non-inspirationa l nine to five office jobs  drained my creative energy and involved spirit breaking office politics.  “If only I could make a living doing what I love,” I told myself. 

Then came what I thought was my dream job:  I became an in-house music composer and video producer for a video production company.   I was ecstatic for a while;  but soon, office politics and an unreasonable boss started draining my creative energy again. “If only I could make a living doing what I love while being my own boss,” I told myself.
 
So I started my own video, music, and graphic design production company,  thinking I could be boss of my own creative projects.   It was liberating but scary.    Money was always an issue.    My boss was replaced by clients, and office politics were replaced by conflicts with my then business partner.

When I parted ways with my business partner, I was in a position to be honest with myself about what I really wanted out of life.   A friend of mine asked me the question that changed my life.   “If you didn’t have to worry about money, what would you really want to do?”  she asked.

“I’d like to write music and make films,” I answered quickly.

“Now make a plan about how you can do that without worrying about money,”  she said.  It sounded so simple.

Then she told me about a book called Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin, about a “nine-step program for personal financial transformation.”   It taught me how to become less dependent on money.

Coincidentally, another friend had told me about another book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.    The phrase that sticks with me from that book is “leap and the net will appear.”

So I leapt.  I had bought a small house in a “gentrifying” neighborhood in Washington DC when residents were moving away from the city.  When it became chic to live in the city again, the value of my house skyrocketed.   So I was already set with a valuable investment.   I just had to take advantage of it.

I moved to a cheaper location so that I could rent my house for a nice monthly profit.   Luckily for me, Washington DC was a location where I could make a VERY NICE monthly profit.

My other effort was to spend much less money.  I bought clothes and other material needs a thrift stores and yard sales.   You wouldn’t believe what nice things you can buy at a thrift store!   It was fun, too – like a treasure hunt.

Then there was buying bargains at Costco and other cost shaving strategies that I had learned from the book Your Money or Your Life.

Then there was the harder part: not caring whatever people thought of me when I told them I decided not to ever have a “real job” again.   That was a psychological challenge I took pride in accomplishing.  The book The Artist’s Way was quite instrumental in that regard.

I was going to take my financial situation a step further and move to the Philippines, where I have extended family.    The dollars I earned from my rent would have gone a very long way there, allowing me to never cook, clean, or worry about money ever again.  But then my husband Mike asked me to marry him, so I made the “sacrifice” and stayed in the U.S. instead.   I am quite happy with him right here.   Mike is very supportive of my life plan and outlook – which is one of the main reasons I married him.

Once in a while, I take freelance video and music production work if it happens to come my way.   Otherwise, I have plenty of time to dedicate to projects that I create from the heart.    I recently finished my first independent documentary “Beauty: In the Eyes of the Beheld,”  about what it is like to be a beautiful woman in everyday American life.  You can find more information about it at BeautyDocumentary.com.  It would have taken me years longer to complete if I hadn’t created the energetic and emotional space for my art.