The reference pic:

I don't want to knock artists who got into a role with their art. I have massive respect for them. It takes a lot of perseverance to do that. They're made of stronger stuff than I. For those looking for a career I'd just say keep your options open. You can still be happy in a passion-adjacent role 🙂

I feel like my education gave me a very stable way of living, and provided me an outlet that won't make me despise my passion projects. Then again, I was pretty lucky to get an in within my field. There's a lot of competition in design (especially UX, which is my field).

This is enough for me (I stress: me, personally) to feel the same highs I get from making art, but separate enough to where I don't get burnt out from my hobby if I'm feeling burnt out at work. In fact, one ends up recharging the other, which is great!

Biology is applied Chemistry, which is applied Physics, which is applied Mathamatics (according to an old XKCD comic I remember) In the same way I feel like Design is applied Art. There's a large overlap in creative control, but the interaction is more a physical one, instead of an emotional one.