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Originally Posted by Richard Bingham
I certainly don't think such categorizing based on the arbitrariness of the tax code has anything to do with the sort of deep, personal committment you speak of.
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I hope no one thinks I actually agree with the IRS! I just put the fact up there as a discussion point. In truth I agree with Richard's (and others') sentiments as expressed above.
I'm currently trying to think of zingers I could toss out at my friends who make "hobbyist" sorts of comments. They're fun to think of, but I don't think they would like me too much if I said them. Maybe getting people into thought-provoking discussions is better:
"When will you get a REAL job?"
"What do you mean by a 'real' job?"
"You know, like working at Border's. . . or 7-11 even."
"Why are these real?"
"Because you get a regular paycheck."
"Are you saying that people who work on commission, like sales reps, don't have real jobs.?"
"Well, no. . ."
"I work on commission."
"Yes, but that's different!"
Why? Because I like my job?"
etc.
As you can see, the virtually futile task of trying to convince people that art is not a hobby intrigues me.
SB, the Robert Frost poem reminds me of a passage in the book
The Gift of Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. It's a sequel to
My Name is Asher Lev. Both are about an artist who is the son of Hasidic Jews. The Rebbe asks Asher's young son a riddle:
"Which is better, to take the short road that is long, or to take the long road that is short?" (paraphrasing)