Ask YC: Should I quit programming to pursue the arts?

To me it sounds like you really want to do something artistic. I'd say don't think about it too much. Just do it. It might not work out but you're fortunate to live in the western civilization (I'm assuming) so you won't starve if things go wrong and it's likely that you can always get another programming job. I think you have a duty to yourself to try this out. Just imagine what you'll wish you would have done in 30 - 40 years time.

If you haven't already, please read this: http://www.gapingvoid.com/Moveable_Type/archives/000932.html

There's a lot of good food for thought here. I can empathise; I had similar thoughts in college that I wouldn't stick it. I love programming, sometimes even the Blub code I work on day to day, however I don't like sitting at a desk all day, so I'm thinking of a career change. Something in sports or perhaps physiotherapy, things like that.

Anyway, I will say that when it comes to making a go out of arts as a career, I'm watching a lot of my friends and acquaintances struggle hard. They're art students, musicians, actors and comedians, circus performers (my housemate; the place is littered with stilts and facepaint and whatnot) and despite some fantastic dedication to it they struggle to make a go of it. All work day jobs, some of the more talented and dedicated are in low paid arts-related jobs - administration, promotion etc. Most, now pushing into their late twenties and early thirties are starting to think about settling more permanently into the day jobs. Of course, north-west Ireland isn't Boston, so YMMV...

As to having your cake etc, do you do any such activities currently? If you're currently performing in plays etc or gathering the work needed for a gallery show and you can deal with the grind that entails, then I'd be more inclined to say go for it. If not, do so; I'd guess the best barometer of whether you'll have made the right decision is if you can cheerfully dedicate a few evenings a week over the course of the months to years it can take to get something into production.

Two things.

First, doing a startup is a really enjoyable form of technical work. You're working on what you want to, and that is fun in itself. It's also multi-disciplinary and thus you get variety and some quite arty bits of work. For example, How can we ask a question that will get us honest, interesting, succinct information about a user's personality?

Second, if your passion can't be your job (for whatever reason), make fucking sure you indulge your passion in your free time. I found that working a job that sucked hard to be an excellent motivation for making full use of my spare time by throwing myself into playing in a band, political activism, squash and programming my own stuff. If you don't get similarly motivated, perhaps forcing yourself to work on your passion will help.

good read, thanks for the article!