I know I don't want a college degree or whatever's considered "a good job" because it'd likely be something "secure" but dull like office work or business.
Getting a degree doesn't automatically consign you to a life of drudgery. The opposite of "good job" is not "the ability to pursue my artistic interests without financial worry," but rather "bad job / no job."
I personally find that brainstorming every option available to me, without regard to whether I'd actually exercise that option, makes me better able to tolerate the option I eventually choose. But I need to put *every* option on the table - I could get up from my desk, get in my car, go down to the bank and clear out whatever money's there, and start life over somewhere else, unencumbered by family or responsibilities, for instance. That I don't, means that that I freely choose to remain encumbered, not that I'm trapped by the encumbrances. And an encumbrance you choose is a lot easier to tolerate than a trap, you know?
