I have a number of friends that have chosen less demanding jobs with variable schedules to pursue their dreams of music, art, dance, etc.

That's fine. Good for them.

The problem is that they continue to make barely above minimum wage (if at all) while those of us that decided to focus on developing a career / following their passions led to a high-paying job now make considerably more than them. These starving artist types tend to expect the rest of us to pay for their drinks or meals when they come out with us or get really pissy when we organize a holiday somewhere and they can't afford to come because they chose, fucking CHOSE, to work part-time or less-demanding jobs to focus on their art.

My point is that if you decide to give up on a career to focus on art/do your own thing, then fucking remember that just because that's for you, doesn't mean all of us want to scrape by when we could have a good, high paying career that allows us to live comfortably and start planning to retire early.