Like Grandpa says, "That's why they call it work"

When I was growing up, nobody told me to "follow my passion".  If I loved a job passionately, no one would have to pay me to go there.

My dream was to act for a living.  I had parts in the high school performances and at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.  One day my favorite high school teacher said that, essentially because of my solid suburban upbringing, I wasn't "broken" enough to be a professional actor.  Decades later I remain thankful for his honesty.

But when my son said that instead of pursuing biomedical engineering he was going to major in English and Philosophy, I kept my concerns to myself.  I didn't try to talk him out of it because fortunately he went to a school where you can probably major in Cheese for Fine Dining and still get a good job when you graduate.  And he did.  Get a good job, not major in Cheese.

  +Dartmouth 

Maybe that's why it was easier to swallow when Mackenzie announced in her senior year of high school that she didn't want to major in Chemistry after all.  She wanted to be a Worship Leader. Okay, that's not a high paying career, but it is a career, and she got music scholarships to a great Christian university and so off she went.

+Mackenzie Elliott 

Then it got really hard.  She didn't fit into the world of worship leading.  She has too much of an edge, is a little too liberal, a lot too independent.  She prayed and thought about it and got advice and decided to be a pop singer.  That's a career, too, but an ultra-competitive, high risk career. So what now? How do parents support a high risk endeavor without becoming a perpetual safety net?

Well, we've agreed that she has our support as long as she is in school.  We know other parents who agree to support part of their artist's expenses, or only for a limited period of time.  Some let their kids live at home, others cut the cord completely and wish them well.  I met a dad at The Voice whose daughter moved to L.A. when she was 18 and he sees her about once a year because neither of them can afford to visit each other on opposite coasts.

I won't know for years whether or not we are doing this right.  But if we can help her go for this while she is still young, before the obligations of work and marriage and family crowd out everything else, then we'll do that.

We're in agreement and we're behind her and we're praying for her.  And we all understand that the safety net doesn't last forever. She wouldn't want it to.  She has BIG plans.  And some new YouTube videos (mom plug again):  https://www.youtube.com/user/kenzielynne91