My dad used to say this about the people who founded Fruitlands: they thought they could work the land by day and then create literature by night, but it turned out the job of farming was so all consuming and crushing that they quickly realized they were either going to fail at farming or never write.

I have a friend I write with (long distance, not in person) on Saturdays, just for a half hour, and she's similarly trapped. Crushing, overwhelming dayjob, poor health, others who are dependent on her. And I know others similarly placed. It's enraging. I'd like everyone to have patrons or grants or whatever--except no: people shouldn't be dependent on others' largess. What I'd really like is for ALL PEOPLE IN SOCIETY to be able to meet their needs without having the process totally destroy them.