I don't particularly remember who said it or where I heard it, but I have very often heard about doing what you love for a living...or making your hobby into your job. Immediately what hits me on hearing this is, "what is it that I love to do?". Though, there are funnier questions that I've heard in training sessions sitting with other MBAs, in reaction to this profound statement. Those would be:
1. "Really, ma'am, it's easier said than done." True. One's hobby could be to go golfing when s/he can, but there're only a few who manage to get more money out of it than they put in.
2. Some other people candidly admit, "I have no hobby...as such".
3. And then there are those innocent newbies who say "My hobby is to sleep, have beer and sleep more..he he". This goes down well with the other participants, they laugh the matter off and get back to work again.
I've heard there are people who make a living out of rowing a boat in Scotland and they do what they love to. Sounds beautiful to have a job in a rowing club.
For me, it is a difficult proposition. I don't struggle so much with "what" do I love to do than I do with "what among all I love to do" is really so special that I give it priority over other nice things and take a shot at making a career out of it. I often sit down and think of an answer, reading? no...basketball?....noway, haven't been on the court for years...poetry...may be? Now that being sorted out, the answer almost always collides with the next question -Do I do it well enough to make some money out of it?
Obviously, being the modest writer I am, I think the answer is no (My computer screen, the notepad, the power cable and the walls are all screaming "of course, it's a no!"). And, so my life goes on, being a consultant that I am...going to work every morning, cranking out powerpoint slides all through the day...and ending up spending most of the weekends working on some random "proposal".
But, guess what, I feel excitement surging within me from (say) April when I'm applying for a week-long vacation in June. And, it continues right till I'm standing on June (recently, I've been hearing a lot on how people visualize certain commonplace sequences such as numbers, months, days-of-a-week etc. BTW, that's a subject for another good post!). I love April because I'm planning. I love May, because I'm re-hashing that plan(!). And, June because, wherever I could escape to finally, it was a good time spent away from work (I have gone a little overboard with this. It's not completely away from work but about as close as a prey is from a Tiger. I being the prey have a good chance that I might escape work if I make the right moves, right when I see it coming.)
So, I enjoy the time away from work. I often crib on being over-worked and busy through weekends, saying "I need to relax...have a good time". The idea of a good time for me may be sleeping, watching cartoons, reading a book, dining in my favorite place, going out with friends, blogging or generally gossiping with a (preferably female ;-) ) friend/ family. The idea of a good time for others could be anything, more often, something like the point number 3 listed in the beginning...sleep, drink and sleep.
What I have come to realize is that you enjoy the time off...the time away from work and routine chores. More I think about it, closer I come to the realization that had it not been for "work", I really wouldn't like my "time-off" so very much! Taking that argument farther, if I were to write poetry at work, I would want to take a break and go away (once in a while) from the poetry-writing. If I were playing "basket-ball" for a living, I would want to spend a few weeks locked up in a room and watch cartoons all day long. The fundamental idea of relaxation it seems is to "do something that you've not been doing everyday/ all-the-time".
And, on that note friends, it seems it's good to keep your boring/tiring/tedious/hideous jobs intact, and do what you do when you take time off. That way you continue loving what you love to do, at least.
1. "Really, ma'am, it's easier said than done." True. One's hobby could be to go golfing when s/he can, but there're only a few who manage to get more money out of it than they put in.
2. Some other people candidly admit, "I have no hobby...as such".
3. And then there are those innocent newbies who say "My hobby is to sleep, have beer and sleep more..he he". This goes down well with the other participants, they laugh the matter off and get back to work again.
I've heard there are people who make a living out of rowing a boat in Scotland and they do what they love to. Sounds beautiful to have a job in a rowing club.
For me, it is a difficult proposition. I don't struggle so much with "what" do I love to do than I do with "what among all I love to do" is really so special that I give it priority over other nice things and take a shot at making a career out of it. I often sit down and think of an answer, reading? no...basketball?....noway, haven't been on the court for years...poetry...may be? Now that being sorted out, the answer almost always collides with the next question -Do I do it well enough to make some money out of it?
Obviously, being the modest writer I am, I think the answer is no (My computer screen, the notepad, the power cable and the walls are all screaming "of course, it's a no!"). And, so my life goes on, being a consultant that I am...going to work every morning, cranking out powerpoint slides all through the day...and ending up spending most of the weekends working on some random "proposal".
But, guess what, I feel excitement surging within me from (say) April when I'm applying for a week-long vacation in June. And, it continues right till I'm standing on June (recently, I've been hearing a lot on how people visualize certain commonplace sequences such as numbers, months, days-of-a-week etc. BTW, that's a subject for another good post!). I love April because I'm planning. I love May, because I'm re-hashing that plan(!). And, June because, wherever I could escape to finally, it was a good time spent away from work (I have gone a little overboard with this. It's not completely away from work but about as close as a prey is from a Tiger. I being the prey have a good chance that I might escape work if I make the right moves, right when I see it coming.)
So, I enjoy the time away from work. I often crib on being over-worked and busy through weekends, saying "I need to relax...have a good time". The idea of a good time for me may be sleeping, watching cartoons, reading a book, dining in my favorite place, going out with friends, blogging or generally gossiping with a (preferably female ;-) ) friend/ family. The idea of a good time for others could be anything, more often, something like the point number 3 listed in the beginning...sleep, drink and sleep.
What I have come to realize is that you enjoy the time off...the time away from work and routine chores. More I think about it, closer I come to the realization that had it not been for "work", I really wouldn't like my "time-off" so very much! Taking that argument farther, if I were to write poetry at work, I would want to take a break and go away (once in a while) from the poetry-writing. If I were playing "basket-ball" for a living, I would want to spend a few weeks locked up in a room and watch cartoons all day long. The fundamental idea of relaxation it seems is to "do something that you've not been doing everyday/ all-the-time".
And, on that note friends, it seems it's good to keep your boring/tiring/tedious/hideous jobs intact, and do what you do when you take time off. That way you continue loving what you love to do, at least.
