Passion, Paying the Bills, and Knowing Myself

posted 24th March 2011    Written by: Bri    CATEGORY: Bri, Job/Career/Work

Like most of you, I have a normal day job.  It’s not my passion, but I like it enough to not feel dread coming in to the office five mornings a week.

I am supported, appreciated, I have freedom to plan my own day, and I am good at what I do; so that’s a positive.  Bonus feature, I work at a non-profit so  at the end of the day I can stamp a “For the Greater Good” sticker on my day and skip happily home.

I skip home and do the thing that I actually LOVE to do; I write.  The internet is full of freelancing independent rockstars, and lately I have been wondering if I could/should do that with my life too.  If writing is what I love to do, should I be pursuing all possible roads to making this my career?

There’s a part of me that sees my friend taking risks and blazing trails, and I feel “less-than” as I hide in my comfy little office.  But then I remind myself that we can’t ALL be freelancing rockstars.  Freelancing is not easy and not for everyone.  From what I understand of my friends who are self-employed, freelancing involves crazy long hours, while fighting procrastination and isolation.  I don’t think that I am the right person to blaze trails in the freelancing world.

For starters, if I don’t talk to people during the day, I go crazy.  I need face-to-face interaction to feed my extrovert heart.  I love having co-workers; love it.  I love hearing how their weekends were and giggling over the lunch.  I like having a boss to keep me accountable for my projects.  If I worked for myself, I would probably do what I did in college; procrastinate to the extreme until I am forced to throw something together at the last minute.  I bet clients would love that.

When I was in high school everyone told me that I should major in English and be and English teacher because I lived for reading.  I refused to major in English (my one great rebellion) because I knew that if I majored in something I loved, I would risk loosing my passion for it.  I think for me, writing and this community is similar to my love of reading. There is a part of me that loves writing because I get to choose it; if I HAD to write I may not love it anymore. I don’t write to pay bills and if I have a period of time when I cannot find a thing to write about, I just don’t write.   However, most days, I do have things I want to write about. and I love that I get to write and connect for the sheer love of it.

Do you ever feel like you should be making a living from your passions?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

{Image Credit chrissymckeen}

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Comments (16)

16 Responses to “Passion, Paying the Bills, and Knowing Myself”

  • Sally Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 8:20 am

    Hi, Bri! I did follow my heart and quit my job to pursue other work . . . and now I'm looking for a part-time job again, partly for the stability of part of my finances but also because I really miss having a common purpose with co-workers and seeing the same people daily. I found it much easier to focus on the side work I love when previously it was what I joyfully did in my spare time. Going against the grain by doing what YOU know you need for yourself applies just as much to keeping a part-time or full-time job as it does striking out on your own. I wish I had appreciated my dual needs a couple of years ago when I first left my job . . . though maybe I needed my experiences to figure it out.

  • Juliana Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 8:46 am

    The accountability and social life of an office is something I miss a little bit. Also, the regular paycheck was pretty sweet… but I'm trying to hold onto faith that this will work out really well, and I feel happy almost every single minute I am working on my new biz. It *does* become "work" more than it used to be, but for me it was the right choice.

  • Kristen Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 9:55 am

    The best advice I ever received in college was from a sign in the career planning office- "do what makes your heart sing." For me, that meant following my passion and love for research and history into a full time museum job. I have many days when I think how fun it would be to be a consultant or professional researcher for many different institutions, but I also have the same feelings as you– wondering how I would structure my day, where I would get the fun of working in an office, and other little things. I love that I do research every day but that it gets mixed up a bit with other activities– I think that's how I can sustain my passion for it and always strive to be better. If I feel uninspired in the learning and writing aspect of my job, I can always pursue my own personal pursuits on my own time. I definitely am worried that if I was a fulltime researcher, no matter for how many different projects, my burnout would be quick and I would lose the thing that makes my heart sing!

  • Kate Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 9:58 am

    It wasn't until after I left the Corporate world, a place I had spent the last 10 years of my life, when I realized that while I enjoyed working in the legal & nonprofit sectors, it wasn't enough. They weren't jobs that strictly paid my bills, and I never lived paycheck to paycheck, but I realized that my jobs were suck life out of me, little by little.

    I wanted to do something better with my life. I wanted to be passionate about something, and actually get paid for it. Now that I'm teaching English to foreign students (and am basically getting paid to travel the world), I can't think of doing anything else. Passion is different for everyone, and finding your passions certainly takes time, but once you find it, don't ever lose it. Passion is truly a wonderful thing.

  • Renee Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 11:35 am

    I tried the freelance thing for a few weeks (with a part-time coffeeshop job) and decided I was too worried about paying the bills to actually go for it. Financial security (albeit small) was far more important to me. At least I knew.

  • eemusings Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 12:44 pm

    I don't want to freelance, because a) work life balance is tough enough for me as is with a normal job that doesn't even require much OT, and b) stability……

    I loved writing. Majored in journalism. Now on the editing side of things, which is good as I do the odd bit of writing, but this way I don't get sick of it.

    And yet, despite "following my passion", I certainly don't wake up pumped for work everyday, which I blogged about a while ago: http://eemusings.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/the-job…

  • Kahea Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 1:04 pm

    Super strangely enough, I've been having a conversation with 2 of my best friends just this morning about finding ways to do work that incorporates our passions. It's something I've been struggling with as I sit here in a job I hate and think about everything I'd rather be doing, but coming up with nothing really cohesive (or realistic?). But I've never thought about what it might to do my passions if I made them my source of income, how it could possibly change my motivations or feelings about them. I just can't imagine not loving the things I love as much as I love them, you know? And I guess people are ever-changing; our passions now may not be our passions in 10 years, so why not take a stab at doing what makes us the happiest while (and whenever) we can? :)

  • Bri - Habbala Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 1:42 pm

    Hi Sally, I'm so impressed that you followed your heart and took the leap into other work at all! I think you hit the nail on the head with "Going against the grain by doing what YOU know you need for yourself". Hope you're figuring out your needs now :)

  • Bri - Habbala Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    Ah yes, YOU my dear should not be in an office; not with the voice you have.

  • Bri - Habbala Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 1:43 pm

    Yes yes yes!! Sounds like you found a great balance for you. You rock.

  • Bri - Habbala Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 1:44 pm

    Well said Kate, and YOU followed your passions SUPER far away. You're amazing.

  • Bri - Habbala Says:
    March 24th, 2011 at 1:45 pm

    I think that knowing yourself is key. Some people ROCK at doing the freelance thing.

  • alisha Says:
    March 25th, 2011 at 8:20 pm

    I think this is a really wise post! I've been toying with the idea of going freelance as well, but I'm not sure how I feel about having to market myself 24/7 and constantly be wondering where the next gig is coming from. Other days however it's very appealing!

  • lolasangria Says:
    March 26th, 2011 at 5:37 am

    i've been dealing with this for a while – and have been wading in it especially since i lost my job two weeks ago. i'm working a temp job now while i apply to "dream jobs" – things i think i'd be really happy doing. but i've also looked around sites like elance, which contract out jobs, some of which i could do, and wondering how cool it would be. and if i could make it work. it truly is a brave move to have enough confidence and faith to jump out there as a freelancer. i still don't know what direction i'll go in – i absolutely need a "real" job for the time being, at the very least to pay the bills and hopefully to be something more – but i'm really interested in exploring the freelance concept.

  • Kim Says:
    March 28th, 2011 at 4:09 am

    I feel the exact same way, Bri. I have often contemplated going freelance with something creative that I love. But now that I've been in the workforce a few years and have worked a few different jobs, I have realized that I really like having the regular routine and security of a 9-5. I love having benefits and knowing that I'm going to get a steady paycheque every 2 weeks. I would also miss the socialization it gives me – I'm actually more of an introvert than an extrovert so I would need the socializing for a different reason (to keep me from becoming a hermit!), but I'm with you on needing that. I also am not the most self-disciplined person either so I find I need a manager to chat about my progress and issues with, and I need that person sort of over my head to motivate me to meet deadlines. I have realized I need structure in my day so I don't think I could handle the uncertainty of working for myself – I definitely see the benefits of it as well, but I think you're right in saying it is for some people and not for others. I also feel that I would definitely look at my passions differently if I HAD to do them – they would become "work" for me and I feel like I'd end up resenting them or not wanting to do them anymore. I like having a separate work and home life, and I'm completely fine with cultivating my passions in my spare time. I don't think it makes me any less passionate or any less brave of a person – I just know what works for me and what doesn't

  • erinmakesitwork Says:
    April 4th, 2011 at 5:07 pm

    I quit/got fired from my job and used it as an opportunity to pursue freelance work full time. Most of the time I really do love it, but it is hard. Finances are hard because I can work my pretty little fingers to the bone and then have my work take forever to get through the editing process, leaving me on the other end juggling bills again. So, now, I am finding myself getting a part-time nanny job and part-time work for my non-profit client. But I am happy, even with the constant juggle.

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