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Beuford -

fwiw I have a masters degree, and the only insurance I've ever seen has been following a dream. All things change, not least of all the stakes we think we're playing for. Humans are simple creatures and very bad at predictive reasoning. Primitive hunter-gatherer societies studied in the amazon have been shown to have virtually no concept of the future outside of natural cycles. The idea of the future is something new for us, and not something we are particularly good at forecasting. The only built in failsafe, or natural compass, that we are given is that of dreams. This is because a true dream is rooted in the present, just as true hope is rooted in the present, as both depend on action. The only thing we find in the future is fear.

I respect the James81's advice and believe he has real reasons for offering it, and he may be right in many cases, but my experience, being that of an artist, has been different.

I can say with confidence, that in the case of the arts, or any creative endeavor, there is a very strong reason you should put all your eggs in one basket.

Your mind will always see a "backup" plan as a primary plan, as it has been designed in a state of fear. In this plan, you have authorized your fear to dominate your decision making, and established that only way to avoid this fear is to follow this plan. Your unconscious will make it your primary plan, because your mind's primary motivation will be to avoid this fear - a fear which will be all powerful as long as your "backup" plan exists. You will not realize this is happening, as you will have bought into this logic, and you will trick yourself into thinking that you are "realistically" following a dream. In fact you will not be. You will simply be generating experiences interpretable as support for your chosen plan - the "backup" plan. You will unconsciously compromise and hamstring your attempts towards a dream in order to manifest the evidence needed to prove you made the right choice in planning "realistically." A "backup" plan is a refusal to accept consequences. It is designed by your mind to perpetuate and establish the illusion of control, which is not the same as intention. It is a prayer to fear.

As we all know but don't do enough, the best way to live is to move towards fear. It makes everything much easier, and much more fun.

If you have a dream, you should follow it at all costs, or do your best to forget about it as soon as possible. Any attempt towards a middle road rarely ends in anything but regret or disapointment. There is no "safe risk." But there is tremendous joy in truly recognizing risk, and moving forward in spite of it. You realize in time that, in many ways, the dream itself, and whether it is realized or not, is not really that important. The reward is in pursuing it, even as it changes as you grow older.

You should stay in school until you identify your dream. This means realizing whats the thing you love to do more than anything and would do for free and work and slave at for the pure joy no matter what else was going on, and no matter what your current occupation might be. When you know what this is, and its usually pretty easy to figure out, just remove everything from your life that is not that. Heaven! Fears are banished and issues of security become completely irrelevant. If school is helping you towards this goal, embrace school. If its holding you back, leave it for the place you need to be. At a certain point you will need to choose between your deepest dreams and the wishes of your parents. Sometimes this is all within your own mind, usually this is a very real conflict. But you will need to establish your autonomy. In the long run you will both be happier that you did. Your parents will accept that you are not them, and at that point begin loving you for who you actually are. It is up to us as children to make this break, at the point that we decide we are ready. Its the point at which a child becomes an adult. Some people never do this. Generally, the people who do are happier.

I think its worth noting the story of Musashi, author of "A Book of Five Rings." According to historical record, when Musashi was just 13, he accepted a posted challenge in the town square to fight a duel with a travelling samurai. His uncle begged the samurai to reconsider, saying he was just a boy, and couldn't possibly know what he was doing. Musashi ignored his uncle and came to the square. He won the duel, killing the samurai. He then embarked on the travelling path of the Ronin and became arguably the greatest samurai who ever lived, winning 50 duels, and even going so far as to begin using wooden swords in place of real swords, so confident was he in his ability.

Once he retired, he opted to live the life of the aesthetic, as a beggar in a cave, devoted completely to applying what he'd learned from the way of strategy to the arts of painting, song, calligraphy, poetry, and tea. His paintings are now worth more in japan than any other artist.

He had earned the right to absolute security through his fame. He could have lived the rest of his life as a wealthy noble or head of a school. Instead, he chose absolute privation.

If you choose to take the most radical risks you can imagine and everything goes "wrong", you will still probably be far above the fate of living as a beggar in a cave.

Musashi took the most radical risks he could imagine, where each of the 50 duels he fought were fatal gambles, and won. And he chose the cave.

I heard someone say that a mystic is someone who laughs at life for the game it really is. We all have moments when we see that, and those are great times.