We recently connected with Devan Renea and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Devan, thanks for joining us today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
Asking if I am happy as a creative is such a layered question. It is one that I’ve often thought of, along with what else I would possibly be doing if I wasn’t committed to earning a living as an artist. I naturally think I would have become a fulltime teacher because I’ve grown to immensely enjoy teaching through my work as a filmmaking and screenwriting instructor. I remember getting the advice when I first landed at film school, over a decade ago now, that I needed to decide what type of artist I wanted to be. One of my professors would say, either you’re an artist for “the man” Art, one collecting dollars behind a desk, or you’re an artist for the art itself. That is to say, either you become an artist by way of being married to the idea that you will make money—by any means— so you generate your art for the mere purpose of feeding the trending machine; or you are truly devoted to your craft, because it is something you would do for free. So, whether you make money or not, you’re committed to the pursuit of creating and expressing your art, often at the sacrifice of your own financial prosperity. For some, it is a difficult choice and for others the choice is easy. For me, the election to fully dedicate to my craft without the invisible, but almost palpable, expectation to be invested for the benefit of notoriety, success, and currency, was a decision I labored over at length. Any true artist will tell you that no one willingly wants to live check-to-check, gig to gig, project-to project, but that can often be the vicious cycle of an artist. Likewise, it takes a tremendous amount of commitment combined with just a twist of crazed madness to go after your dreams and pursue your art against the backdrop of numerous disappointments, countless rejection, and parade of comparison. So am I happy as a creative–to be honest, not always. Are there days I wonder why I didn’t choose a more consistent career path, yes. Have I ever wanted to just give up and try something new altogether, absolutely. However, what I know is this…I wouldn’t be living MY truth. I wouldn’t be the best version of myself wearing any other hat, and ultimately the thought of that notion makes me know I chose the right path, regardless of the adversity. As my grandfather would say, you can’t go wrong on the right road. You might sit down and rest, you might get turned around when it gets dark, but I believe when you’re walking in your true divine light, you’ll always be exactly where you need to be.
