Scot McKnight has a post from an Australian source on the Day Jobs of 20 Famous Writers. Most of these seem to be what the writers were doing before they were able to make a living just from their writing. I could list more examples of day jobs that writers held even after they became successful: Wallace Stevens was an insurance executive; Geoffrey Chaucer and Nathaniel Hawthorne were both customs officials; countless writers today are teachers or pastors or manual laborers.
Day jobs are not just for authors. Artists and musicians often support themselves primarily by teaching.
The fact is, it’s hard to make a living by writing or artistic pursuits. That’s the nature of those particular callings.
We’ve got to remember that the doctrine of vocation is NOT primarily about making a living, despite the secular uses of that term. It’s mainly about the various neighbors that God puts into your life and calls you to love and serve.
Yes, that can include customers, colleagues, and clients. It definitely includes your spouse and your children, if you were called to marriage and parenthood. Also your fellow citizens and, if you are a Christian, the other members of your congregation.
If you were given the talent to be a writer or artist, that is part of what God has called you to do, whether you make a penny from it or not, so pursue it to God’s glory and, if you can find an audience, the good of your neighbors who read, see, or hear what you do.
If you work at a fast food restaurant to support that habit, that too is part of your calling, so love and serve your neighbors there also.
And don’t neglect your family, which is likely your most important vocation. Your marriage and your parenting are not “day jobs” ancillary to your true calling of being a writer or whatever. Take your callings as a whole, as a manifestation of who you are, who your neighbors are, and whom God is calling you to serve in the here and now.
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