I have unrealistic majors and my life is important

I've been thinking about this lately:

Today I spent a ridiculous amount of time painting a large canvas white. 

Some people may look at that fact and think oh, what a waste of time. But I found this really productive. It was something I needed to get done. 

Yesterday in class we learned about putting together canvas and stretcher bars, and in another class we looked at drawings and talked about them for about an hour and a half. The rest of my day was a flurry of interviews and research for stories I'm writing and getting lost in the writing itself. Some may look at my day and think how are these skills you can use in real life? 

I love making art. I love using my hands to produce something that wasn't there before, that came out of my mind and was translated into something tangible. I love looking at other people's art, and learning from the way their minds work. I love learning new ways to make art, and exploring all the realms this major has to offer. 

I love to write. I love learning new interesting things about people and getting to tell their stories. I love reading other people's writing and learning from the way they think. I love when people let me into their lives to see and hear about intimate details about the way they live. 

I am incredibly blessed to get to study art and journalism in a place like this. 

My schedule as a double major in art and journalism is kind of hilarious. I tend to lose sight of this in the midst of all the things I need to get done (like painting things white) but I never have a typical sit-in-a-lecture-and-take-notes kind of day. Every day in these departments is different, and I love it.

Last Thursday my day looked like this:

I started my day off at 8:30 am with two hours of drawing from a real life model. (lol wut)

10:15 - 11am was spent talking with other journalists about things happening on campus to write about.

After another short class and a lunch break, I spent a long time talking about other people's paintings and reflecting on my painting practice for the last week. We talked about techniques and studio practices, and we were assigned to pick another famous painting to copy for our next assignment.

These things might seem trivial to some people, and there are some who would say that there is no way this can translate into a job. But let me tell you.

I have learned a ton about thinking visually, about gathering information, about building relationships, about consistency and productivity, and about and doing what I love. You can't tell me that wasn't worth all those dumb general ed classes.

My homework for that night included:

-Make 3-4 drawings
-Pick a famous painting to forge
-Interview people for a few stories for the newspaper
-Do some research for a more in-depth story, including reading other published work

Making art and writing stories. This is what I love to do, and I get to do it for homework.

I honestly feel like the luckiest person in the world.