My Social Security statement arrived a few days ago. I often don’t even look at them. The odds of me getting Social Security are slim. But I opened this one up and perused the information laid out for me. First, the good news. I qualify for benefits! For a long time I didn’t. Then my eyes drifted to the right and I saw my Earnings Record—a handy chart that shows you your “taxed social security earnings,” which is essentially your taxable income for the year.

My earnings start in 1989, when I was 14 and working illegally as a busboy in a country club. Hated every minute. So lets skip ahead to 1995, the year I got married (yes, I was married at twenty and for the record and still very happily married). In 1995 I got a job at a photography development business. My job was simply, scan through photos of weddings, endless weddings, loot for specs in the image and then use my extraordinary artistic skills to fill that spec in with a dab of appropriately colored ink. Within two weeks I was seeing spots that needed to be filled in on  everything I looked at!

Worse, I wasn’t being creative or pursuing my storytelling dreams. Despite the social pressure and talks of responsibility and even a “why don’t you go work in a factory?” I was determined to pursue my dreams. Damn the rest of the world.

And now, fifteen years later, having achieved the dream (I’m make my living writing novels!) I am looking back and seeing the cost of my pursuit laid out in chronological order. And if you’re like me, this may be the cost of pursuing YOUR dreams, too. So take a look at the numbers below. They represent my taxable income from 1995 to 2007 (I got my first book deal in 2008). *Keep in mind that during these years, I wasn’t simply unemployed, watching soaps and playing Xbox. I was writing, all day and most nights. I wasn’t born with a talent for writing. I was awful at it. But I had a love for storytelling. The writing took twelve years to hone.

1995 – $628
1996 – $0
1997 – $0
1998 – $0
1999 – $940
2000 – $2,222
2001 – $2075
2002 – $4200
2003 – $2018
2004 – $16,607 – I’m rolling in it now! My first child was born and I got a job.
2005 – $0 – Crap
2006 – $10,582 – Second child is born.
2007 – $25,139 – This is the year I started my own small press using three credit cards and sold enough books to land a book deal.

So there you have it. In twelve years, I made: $64,681. In TWELVE YEARS! I made more than that in 2008 alone. Now ask yourself, “Are my dreams worth this price?” My answer to that question is simple. Yes. I’d do it again. For me, it was the right way to do things. Had I worked full-time during those years I’d never be a working writing today. I spent roughly 27,440 hours writing over a million unpublished and unpaid words to achieve my goal. For some, with more talent than me, writing while working full-time works out. That might be you. But I still think the question, for any creative person in the midst of, or considering pursuing their dreams: what are you willing to give up?

Before you answer, consider this. I’m not rich. I may still make less money than you. And my average income over the past 15 years is still pitiful. I’m not a bestseller (yet) and I have no idea if my publisher will continue the series after book three (which comes out next Spring). But I’m a writer. A novelist. And I’m paid to do this. That’s the dream. Money, clearly, is secondary (for me).

Now answer. What would you give up—what would you sacrifice—to pursue your dreams? What have you given up to pursue your dreams? What are you not willing to give up?

– Jeremy Robinson
www.jeremyrobinsononline.com
Jeremy Robinson is the author of seven novels including PULSE and INSTINCT, the first two books in his Jack Sigler thriller series published by Thomas Dunne Books, and imprint of St. Martin’s Press.