AURORA is a young musician from Norway. She’s kind of a modern Enya.
NPR’s Bob Boilen recently interviewed AURORA. She had a very wise thing to say while talking about the life of an artist or musician… when your hobby becomes your job, it can be both a blessing and a curse.
That immediately reminded me of my short career as a radio DJ. Every Friday morning, I played three solid hours of my very favorite tunes. Occasionally, I had to cover the next DJ’s shift, which meant six solid hours of my favorite tunes. By the end of those sorts of shifts, I didn’t want to hear any music for the next several days.
I’ve always loved music, but too much of a good thing can be more than a boy can handle.
So I never made music my career.
Similarly, I love cars. But selling them for a living would take the joy out of it.
What’s the thing you loved and never made your career?
Wow! This really hit me — I’ve always wanted to Become A Writer, and have lamented that I never seriously pursued it as a career. I can still get myself wallowing in self-pity. But, dang if you’re not right — I love to write and I actually do a lot of writing. Writing has helped me a ton, personally and professionally. So even though I don’t technically make my living doing it, it probably has been at the center of a lot of my “success”. Gee, Paul…I feel like I should pay you at least the cost of 2 therapy sessions for this insightful post!
Thanks Chris!
I love personal blogging – because I do such a small amount… spice on the meal.
I actually did try to make a hobby into a job. I used to love to paint plaster statuary/lamps/etc. But when I opened a store to sell the statues and paints, it didn’t turn out well. Once the store closed, I never painted the stuff again.
However, I think the key word here is hobby. A hobby is something you do for fun, usually just once in a while. But doing something you love as a job, like writing, designing, cooking, whatever it is, is a blessing. Being a DJ for you was just a hobby, but for some people it’s a career that they love. I guess the trick is figuring out whether your hobby is only that, or is something that you would enjoy as a career.
Good observation, Deb. I’m glad there are people who love what others don’t. Otherwise, the world would be a very boring place!