Mike Sager is a bestselling author and award-winning journalist. A longtime writer-at-large for Esquire, he has been called "the Beat poet of American journalism, that rare reporter who can make literature out of shabby reality." Since 2012 he has also been the publisher of The Sager Group, a consortium of multi-media artists and writers, with the intent of empowering those who make art.
Doing killer work is no longer the only barometer of success, not if we want our stuff to be seen. We are now all judged by the clicks we receive. By our Google rankings, hearts and wows, thumbs up and shares. Mike Sager considers the question: How the heck does a creative cope with this new reality?
As an expectant parent, Mike Sager was convinced that his career as a creativist was about to nose dive into a lumpy sea of malodorous baby poop. Then he welcomed a son into his life and everything changed.
Mike Sager has spent the last 40 years plying his craft from his home office, working away on a 63-year-old desk that used to belong to his father. He reflects on what it's like to be responsible to, and responsible for, only himself in a place where the line between duty and pleasure is blurred.
We are what we do. Until the guillotine drops and we have to become our next best self, an equally terrifying and exhilarating prospect.
Don’t worry about the competition. Be number one in a class of one.
Every creative has found themselves at the same career crossroads. One path leads where their heart desires. The other leads to "real" jobs. Mike Sager has stood there, and he reflects on why he dropped out of Georgetown Law School to live the creative life.
For creatives feeling discontent in these fractious times, writer Mike Sager urges us to turn frustration into a tool for change.