Fuck People Who Tell You to #FuckPlanB

[bethofalltrades]

First order of business: my birthday was awesome & I was shocked (to the point of a few tears) at how many people were sharing links to my art and buying prints from my webstore

Comments

Easy to dismiss Plan B when wealthy family and friends provide a safety net

[anonymous]

So wonderful and inspiring. Thoughtful and well-written. I noted with interest that you deliberately omitted Amanda Palmer's name and contribution to all of this FuckPlanB nonsense. It is easy when like Amanda, whose ENTIRE career has been sustained by wealthy friends and family (you know its true Beth) to be dismissive of Plan B when you have parental financial support and your secret Plan B was to snag a wealthy older man when the gigs and attention dried up.

Beth, what you are doing now required immense courage and surely your creativity will be rewarded and recognized. Be strong.

[cyprith]

For me, #fuckplanB isn't about throwing all caution to the wind and not having a back-up plan. #fuckplanB is about detesting the need for a plan B.

You can't fuck Plan B without acknowledging that there IS a Plan B to be fucked. So while I may be thumbing my nose at the sensible and logical Plan B, it's still there. I can try to become a Lady Gaga Fighter Pilot Astrophysicist, loathe and detest my Plan B (thus, #fuckplanB), but still end up IN Plan B.

It's less about being an idiot than it is about striving for your personal measure of success. So no, not bourgeois nonsense. I believe this is actually what they refer to as "The American Dream."

[rayvenge]

Oh man, I totally missed this at fist because I didn't bother to read the comments before I posted mine, but you said it a lot better than me.

[cyprith]

Aww, thank you. :3

[citizenjaq]

I also hadn't seen the hashtag before @katelinnea pointed me here. My *own*, *personal* experience leads me to believe that one is much more likely to succeed in an artistic endeavor when one throws oneself wholeheartedly at it. I had a very prominent Plan B, and when Plan A wasn't working out a few years ago, Plan B pretty much became my life. Plan A was an occasional hobby, but I mostly abandoned it. It made me much less frustrated; happier? In the short term, yes

[rayvenge]

I've been homeless. I still say #FuckPlanB. To quote another twitter "I say #FuckPlanB in the way I say "fuck the government." Don't want to destroy it entirely, but in an idealistic world, we wouldn't need it." Sure, I have a plan B, and plans C-Z, but I don't like falling back on them, because that implies that I seriously fucked up while actively doing Plan A.

[rayvenge]

For the record? Plan A is my day job. It's a lot of people's day job, actually. My Plan A is bartending, because it's a fucking awesome job. Should I loose said job, yeah I'll probably be out on the street again within a couple of months, because none of my other plans are a sure thing in this economy. Hell, even Plan Z, McDonald's, isn't a sure thing. Even fast food places aren't hiring often around here, and I live in a major city.

[cyprith]

I know. And it sucks a LOT. Where I live, even if you work full-time, extra hours at Walmart, it's not enough to cover even the basic living expenses. You'll get enough for *maybe* rent. But then you'll have to, I dunno, rob a McDonalds or something for food. Hey, maybe that's why McDonalds isn't hiring! Lol.

But seriously. Have an internet!support highfive from some random chick on the internet and rock on.

[rayvenge]

Highfives are always awesome, especially internet ones!

[peregrin8]

This is a nice counterbalancing point, but I still appreciate the energy behind the Twitter discussion. My Plan B turned into Status Quo somehow and I need to get out from under it... but yes, I will still need a safety net.

Unrelatedly... I wasn't sure you were still here. I ordered a "surprise" print from you ages ago and never got it; follow-up queries went unanswered. Are you back in business?

[bethofalltrades]

I am here off and on, more off than on in the past year or so because of my workload--- send an email to bethofalltrades at gmail with your address & I'll send you a package. (I know there are about 129041 email addresses for me floating around out there, but that's the one that definitely works.)