Where did we go wrong with life to the point where we stopped doing the things we loved and focused instead on how much it makes us. Someone loves baking? They begin to sell cakes. What about photography? They start charging for shoots. Writing? You’ll be asked to launch a newsletter. The list is freaking endless. It feels like every hobby now comes with the expectation that it should generate income. If it isn’t making money, people start wondering whether it’s worth doing at all.
Don’t get me wrong though because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with turning your passion into a business. Many successful businesses began as hobbies, and that’s something to celebrate. But I also think we’ve unintentionally robbed ourselves of the joy of doing things simply because we love them.
In my opinion, not everything has to be productive. I’m a believer in the idea that not every talent has to be profitable and not every free hour has to become another stream of income. It’s really okay to paint terrible paintings that no one will ever buy. To read books with no intention of reviewing them. I have read several books that I haven’t reviewed. The amount of reviews I’ve done of books aren’t close to the amount of books I’ve actually read. It’s completely normal to bake cookies just because your house smells amazing afterward and to journal what will never escape your notebook.
Having a hobby isn’t wasting your time just because it isn’t making you money. I see it more like protecting your peace, exercising your creativity, and just reminding yourself that your worth isn’t tied to your productivity. One thing I also think of is that the moment you wish to sell out on your hobby and it doesn’t actually sell out, you lose the enthusiasm for it.
The economy is so bad we’ve become so obsessed with monetizing everything that we’ve forgotten what it feels like to enjoy something with no audience, pressure or expectations.
When was the last time you did something purely because it made you happy, not because it could make you money?
Posted Using INLEO
