Do what you love for work?

[avacado]

I was listening to the Joe Rogan podcast today (I'm a die hard fan). I guess there was an article about how you should relegate your passion to a hobby, and pursue a less fulfilling career. Joe gets very heated (dare I say passionate?) about how this is a terrible idea. It struck deep with me because I feel like, to some degree, I'm doing exactly what that writer recommended, by relegating my love of astronomy to a hobby while pursuing more lucrative work. Few people would pay me to look through a telescope, and the few who would pay me do do this must choose between me and whole lot of others, because it's a very satisfying and attractive job that a lot of people are passionate about. By contrast, I have my office job that's okay - not awful - and I earn a lot, and I can use that money to buy a telescope and use it whenever I want. Maybe I'm just justifying my situation, but it seems to me that if everyone followed their passion, most people would funnel into the "fun" jobs (like guitar making, in the podcast example) and no one would crunch numbers in a cubicle somewhere.

 

Here's the podcast: Joe Rogan (Podcast Site) skip to 1:04:30 to listen to it. Or just listen to the whole thing, because every one of his podcasts is great. Or, here's the isolated snippet:

 

What do you all think? Did any of you juggle with this same dilemma? Do you regret your choices, or have any insights? I think it's an important issue.

[amaysngrace]

I think you should strike a balance between following a career that you're interested in while being practical enough to make sure it pays a living wage.

 

Make sure you like the work you do if you plan to do it for the rest of your life.

 

However, if you're going to make some serious bank, then maybe you don't need to like it so much. Generally the more you earn the more pressure is placed on you so even if you like the work to begin with you may grow to not like it at all once you've climbed the corporate ladder.

 

Everything in life is a trade off though.

[writergal]

I think unless you have the social networks and professional connections it's nearly impossible to do what you love as your main job. I count myself among those who struggle to make ends meet while trying to bring their life's passion alive and into the public sphere. Oh that I could be paid to pursue my life's passions (I have a couple) I would be one happy camper.

 

I loved the show Fear Factor that Joe Rogan hosted.

Edited April 8, 2014 by writergal

[Eternal Sunshine]

I do what I love. I am lucky because what I love is also highly in demand.

 

Having said that, I could earn more money by doing a variation of what I love but I would love that a lot less.

 

I chose to earn less but I still earn enough to lead a comfortable lifestyle.