ART IS A REAL JOB

Art is a real job.
Expression, painting, drawing, singing, writing.
All of these artistic endeavors hold REAL VALUE in society, and to other people.
Have stocks ever really moved you?
Have those spreadsheets ever made you think about the current state of affairs?
Those meetings you have had to attend, did they make you FEEL?
Did those white collar chores ever lend a useful perspective?
Art does. Art communicates what speech alone cannot.
Art is a vision. 
Not only that, but creation takes time and supplies.
It's a commitment one has made not only with oneself, but with the rest of society.
The witnesses. The audience. 
The consumers (in the words of the woeful meetings).
Art is a real job.

The Ascension by James Mulvaney 

The exchange of the ideas, thoughts and feelings hold real value.
Which is encompassed in a transaction, usually a very close and personal one.
Between two friends. Between a witness and the creator. 
I think the only reason the white collar/blue collar types don't understand is because art and that "real world" are literally two different worlds.
One is rigidly scheduled with predictable paychecks and time off.
The other is not. 

YOU ARE REAL. I SEE YOU.
KEEP CREATING.