Jesus was a carpenter, so I will be  

I built houses
for a couple of summers while in college. Gave me some very practical life skills but it didn't take long to see that it would be a brutally hard way to make a living during a New England winter, or I suppose, an Austin summer 30 years into the future. One of the greatest lessons you'll learn though is "Measure twice, cut once" it will apply to a great many things going forward. Good luck in whichever direction life takes you!

As an artist with a day job
I'm an artist first and foremost - but my dayjob pays the bills, an affords me the time to pursue my art. The dayjob is creative in a supremely limited way - but I get health insurance, sick days, and a steady salary. Some of my artist friends have taken the plunge and subsist only on their artwork, but I'm just not in a good enough place to get there yet.
I sympathize with the choice Whitespike, but sometimes compromise is the best means of advancing your true dreams.

I hate building decks. The...
I hate building decks. The boss is impatient and snarky. It's insanely hot right now and my bdy is suffering.
My interview with DWR went fairly well, but I didn't pour on the charm like usual. I was too tired from the Austin sun and my bones were too sad to move. I just didn't have the energy. In addition, they are very inflexible with time, so probably no for me. I can't give up my music.
I'm just so tired of having to struggle. Freelancing is slow right now, but it was going fairly well for a bit. I just want to write music, that's all. Pipe dreams. Even if I wanted a day job here, it seems no one is hiring at all.
Having an itch you cannot scratch is a sonnuvabitch.
Thanks to my DA friends for all the support. I didn't mean to turn a potentially optimistic thread into a sniff fest.
Whoa-is-me! Poor little Whitespike. Grow some, boy.

Dear Whitespike
I can more or less imagine what you are going through. I worked for a while in construction when I was a student. We build houses in Germany for the thousands and thousands of homeless that were refugees in their own country after the war. It was designed as a goodwill gesture of some kind, to show that we could still be good neighbours. We were not paid and worked hard. There is nothing comparable to Texan weather in Germany but insulating roofs by picking glass fibre strands with you bare hands out of large bags and pressing them in the space between the beams under a hot roof is no joke.
I?m not sure that Jesus started as a carpenter. But I really hope you will not start yet another religion to get away from this job?.
Hang in there!

Best of luck to you...
Best of luck to you Whitespike, either way. Truth be told, the carpenter label was meant in the biblical day as an insult, a jab to evoke pity on those who would worship false idols.
And with regard to the tiring, miserable choices involved in the issues of vocation - like old Bill Clinton - I can feel your pain.
Here's a wise ditty by Ron Padgett, a poet (kind of an odd hybrid, a good but sadly lacking modern day mix of craftsman and salesman). Hope it might be in some minor way inspiring.
Fixation
It's not hard to climb up
on a cross and have nails driven
into your hands and feet.
Of course it would hurt, but
if your mind were strong enough
you wouldn't notice. You
would notice how much farther
you can see up here, how
there's even a breeze
that cools your leaking blood.
The hills with olive groves fold in
to other hills with roads and huts,
flocks of sheep on a distant rise.
http://www.poetspath.com/Video/39/Ron_Padgett_Fixation.htm

good luck whitespike
I...
good luck whitespike
I subscribe to the EWOP theory
of life, for those that are racking their brains and saying what does that mean, it is
Every thing works out perfect
I practice it every day, and also have it on my wifes license plate.
so when things looked bumbed out something good will happen , I have been around to long not to see this happen several times in my life.

Having recently walked away from a fruitful career
I can totally relate to your state of mind, whitespike. It took me two tries, but I am now quite happy in my Renewable Energy career. I make a bit less than 1/2 of what I used to make salary-wise, but I am infinitely happier. And at the end of the day, being happy is far more important than being able to afford vintage modern. Go find what makes you get out of bed each day with a smile and go do it. Anything else will cheat your soul.

Wise words
by all of you. Thanks to all.
I quit my job yesterday. The boss was an extremely angry and awkward man. I couldn't take his disrespectful words and I decided to move on. I very respectfully informed him that I too have been the "boss" before and I never treated people in this manner. I added that if he is an impatient man that is fine, but he might prefer coming off another 3 or four dollars an hour for someone more skilled. He seemed very distraught at the situation saying "this has happened to me five times in a row." With his demeaning demeanor are you surprised?
So I am at home now, working on some of my artwork. Back to square one. But, as mentioned, things always work out. I know this. But it is nice to be reminded.
And - as mentioned - it is infinitely more important to focus on those things that make you who you are. The things you enjoy about yourself. These things are indeed more important than affording things you do not need. In fact, years ago I had a very nice wage at a contract government gig drawing maps. I went ahead and bought things I knew I would just daydream about for years if I didn't get it then: an Eames lounge, a Nelson bench, some bertoia dining chairs, etc.
It's not that I don't like designing. I just don't like doing it for the purpose of marketing. Things connected to dog-eat-dog business and high profits have always irked me. That's why I am doing it for enjoyment as we speak. I have to remind myself why I did it in the first place.
It is better to be rich in spirit.

Say...
wasn't Karen a Carpenter, too?

I'm glad you quit
Your design work is great, and you're too decent a guy to be bullied by a petty boss. And remember that while Jesus was a carpenter, his first concern was also that he be rich in spirit. Consider the lilies of the field.

.
With the record temps in Austin lately!Its a good time to quit...:)

Thank you Brent for the nice...
Thank you Brent for the nice compliment. I just expect people to follow the golden rule. I would never treat another human with such disrespect.
And, yes, it has been seriously hot in Austin. I was working in a little town about an hour away and it was 101 degrees. It was in one of those builder neighborhoods, where they stupidly rid of almost every tree. Needless to say, there was no shade to be found.

Brent
Holy Cow. I just remembered which Brent you are. How are you?

🙂
I'm doing well. People here miss you. You should come home to visit some time, if only to say hello and help rescue dusty Eames furniture from government buildings.

Whitespike -- don't despair....
Whitespike -- don't despair. I think it's great that you have the guts to break away like this. Now the trick is to have the strength to stand by yourself if/when you fall on your ass.
I'll say this, Austin is a great place to live and a real hub for a struggling artist. If you are sincere, practice your ass off, and really believe in yourself, (not grinding yourself down with doubt), you will grow and your work will thrive. Not as simple as it sounds, but it's all there is. Everything else is just distraction and propaganda.