"Should I give up on my dream to be an artist?"

It's common for people in creative professions to have moments (sometimes long periods) where they ask themselves this question: "is my time up? should I be working toward something else instead?"
My approach in tackling this issue is both exploratory and empowering.
I like to understand what the reasoning is behind these types of doubts, and I also want to be the voice that cheers for the "Creativity/Arts Team". Here are some things I consider:

1. ​​What does the idea of changing directions feel like? Is there excitement and curiosity when discussing carving a new professional path or feelings of grief and frustration? We want to know the nature of someone's feelings associated with the change.
2. Is the commitment to pursuing the artist's path based on ego? Is it hard to give up because it feels like failure? We want to make sure that someone wants to stay in their chosen path for the "right" reasons.
3. Does my client truly have a choice? By this, I mean that sometimes doing art is not a choice. It's a need. Clients may feel unfilled and incomplete if they are not writing, acting, painting, playing music, and so on. When this is detected, I make sure to continue to empower my clients to keep doing what they are doing and gently surrender to the fact that it's an essential, non-negotiable part of who they are.

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