Life Lessons: A Reflection on Passions
Because it was Canada Day on Thursday, I was able to score a four-day weekend. It was wonderful to have four lovely long days to myself, especially because the weather was beautiful.
With the boyfriend out of town doing fieldwork, I occupied my time with plenty of writing. I have been working on a healthy living how-to book (I’m aiming to finish it by the end of the month so that it will be on the market by the end of the summer!), and I really enjoyed being able to spend the four days writing, taking a break to exercise, reading a novel, writing some more, and then going out in the evening (or staying in to read/write some more. That also is something I am liable to do).
I have always thought that the reason why I get sleepy by 9pm on most days and am ready to go to bed is because I wake up at 6am to head to the gym before going to the office for eight to 11 hours. It occurred to me over the weekend, however, that I was much more energized than normal. I went out to a CD release party one evening and whereas I normally would be unable to keep my eyes open past 11pm (even with the music playing – it’s embarrassing how sleepy I can get even when the band is fantastic!), this time I was still awake and full of gusto well into the night. I wasn’t waking up quite as early as usual during the weekend, so that may have been why I wasn’t hitting a slump by 2 or 3pm like usual. But I think a bigger part of it is that I wasn’t around people.
At the vet clinic that I am currently working for, I deal with people all day long. Most of our clients are very pleasant and enjoyable to talk to, but talking to people all day long is exhausting. Having the long weekend to myself meant that I was alone all day and able to get lots of work done on my book, and by the evening I was still energized enough to want to see people. On a normal workday, by the time I get home I find it difficult to muster up the energy to go out and socialize. Not so when working from home.
The other interesting thing of note this weekend was that my eating habits were much more in line with intuitive eating. Doing what I love – writing, reading, and exercising – meant that I wasn’t turning to food to keep myself occupied. It isn’t that I don’t like my job at the vet clinic; it’s just that it isn’t what I went to university to do, and receptionist work is not what I am interested in doing for the rest of my life. Writing and editing is the passion that keeps my body the most balanced and harmonized. It turns out, too, that working from home agrees with me very much. I was far more productive than I expected.
That is what I learned from doing some inner reflections while I had four days to myself: do what you love and everything else will fall into place.*
…so this means you will all buy my book so that I can turn to writing full-time, right? 😉
Are you doing what you love? Have you been able to turn a hobby into a career? What revelations have you come to recently?
*I know. It’s plain common sense. Sometimes it’s the most logical concepts that are the most difficult to grasp!
I am lucky, I turned my passion into my livelihood very early in life. I work hard, but do have time to write, play, live, and beam. That said, a J-O-B is still a J-O-B. My day is built out of face-time, and the days can be very draining — not what I envisioned so many years ago.
I try, just try, to put a little vacation in every day — just a moment which might feed another moment a day or so later. This helps. Work is what we are here for.
Yes, I’ll buy your book. Will you buy mine….?
I like what I do, but do I love it? Probably not. I have some good friends at work that makes my day passes by quickly. I graduated with a civil engineering degree and am employed as a civil engineer, but I do more of a business analyst type of work. I actually spend most of my day writing and doing calculations for reports. Not the most exciting job, but it pays the bills. And yes, most of my extra snacking usually happen at work. When I am at home, I do not eat as much.
Sagan, I can’t wait to buy/read your book! Very exciting!
Ah, to live the dream…
haha! that depends what you love. I did what I loved for a few years and I got fat, never saw my friends and was living far away from my boyfriend. I still loved it though, I just paid a slightly too high price for it. I think its do what you love and remember to balance it with the other things you love 🙂 that would have been my most significant revelation of late. It had truly never occurred to me that doing what I love as a career might have a price or I might learn that there were other things that were also important to me. DOH!
Emergefit- It’s a deal!
Asithi- And I think that that’s a big part of it all… a distinction between love and like (but also between “ugh” and enjoyment).
Kristy- Thanks!
Westwood- Dividing time between a cottage in Lake of the Woods and a villa in Spain (or is it a condo in Vancouver? Hehe)… yeah, I think I could handle that 😉
fd- Good point. We definitely need to keep balanced!
Congrats on writing the book!
YES talking to people is exhausting. I can’t do it for too long – it tires me out.
I don’t really do what I love for my main job, but I love blogging and writing and reading which I do in my spare time 🙂 It works for now. I’d love to turn it into a career.
Maggie- Baby steps! And thanks 🙂
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