A Graduate's Wisdom

The romantic life of a starving artist and budding writer:

To be a budding writer requires passion, which means telling people that you write on your free time, which also means facing the question: “so why do you write… just because?” with dignity.

To be a starving artist means to waitress, and still be able to say “the world needs more art. Art will save us,” and try to believe it.

To be a budding writer means to get horridly drunk, and wake up the next morning with the conviction that it was all for the sake of experience.

To be a starving artist means to watch all the movies on Netflix, with the firm believe that it was meant for inspiration.

To be a budding writer means to carry a journal with you everywhere, and have it full of grocery lists.

To be a budding writer means to have a constant rush of ideas… sometimes, and to sit before the computer for two hours, having written only two words.
To be a starving artist means going to an empty bar to write for thirty minutes, before you get too tipsy to focus.

To be a budding writer means to dedicate an hour daily to nothing but writing… and cigarette breaks, and trips to the bathroom, and occasional texting.

To be a budding writer means to wear glasses before writing, even if you have no problems with farsightedness.

To be a starving artist means spending three hours in a bookstore, and coming out empty handed.

To be a budding writer means to tap hard at the keys to see if the sound stimulates thought, or to have your roommates believe that you’re working hard.

To be a starving artist means to practice what you preach, even if you don’t know what the practice entails.

To be a budding writer means to wake up one morning, spend an hour and a half working on a good paragraph, and smile.
To be a budding writer means having a collection of journals that embarrass you, yet still loving them like a mother. 

To be a starving artist means constantly reading about other young successful artists in history, and then about the old ones.

To be a budding writer means feeling complete euphoria after the piece is done.

To be a budding writer means reading your piece over and over again, and liking it more each time.

To be a budding writer means reading your piece over and over and over again, and disliking it more each time.

To be a budding writer means starting again, and again, and again for the rest of your life.