Someone emailed a while back, lamenting feelings of losing the love she once felt for her work. One sentence in particular struck me, when she explained that what she was doing felt more like a job and than a passion. I did not have time to delve into all the thoughts that came swimming into my mind when I read it, so I scribbled a few words on a post-it note and ruminated on the ideas for a few weeks, thinking about all the ways expectations, fantasies, and ideas of what constitutes a passionate life shape the way I’ve viewed my own artistic path. Where is the line that separates a passion from a job or does one even exist?
As these thoughts and questions simmered throughout my week at Squam Art Workshops (SAW), I couldn’t help but think about a similar spark that caught my attention at the 2008 SAW gathering during a panel discussion with the teachers. An audience member asked everyone on stage what rituals they did each day to get themselves in a creative mood, and I found myself wanting to jump up and say, “YES!” to the answer Penelope Dullaghan gave. I am paraphrasing, but it was something like this: That sometimes she isn’t in the mood, no matter how many candles are lit or rituals are performed; sometimes she wakes up grouchy and tired but she has a deadline to meet and – wait for it – this is her job. Ritual or no, it is her job to create, so create she must do.
In those moments when I would love nothing more than to skip along the sidewalks all day, nap, see a movie, and read, I always have a choice. I am an independent artist and have the freedom to take on as much or as little as I want. It could easily be said that I take on too much, but I approach my work with a take no prisoners attitude because I consider every opportunity to do the work I do is a gift, a gift that is being offered to me because I have worked hard. I followed my passion and - I still can’t believe I get to say this - my job is to create, write, and share my work.
There are plenty of days when things feel out of whack, when I ask myself, “Is this what I really signed up for?” When I started my greeting card line Swirly in 1995 I certainly didn’t anticipate having to spend day after day packing orders of cards. Running that business was a job, let me tell you, but it was my passion for what I was sending in all of those boxes that kept me going. And that’s the deal – when a passion is pursued I need to release the idea that I’ll wake up with bluebirds tying ribbons in my hair and sunbeams streaming through my windows. Pursuing a passion is work. It is effort and time and being willing to take on more than is easy to handle. It is, in the simplest terms, a job.
When I stop feeling that the work I do supports my passions – when the river I’m traversing seems to be stuck in a swamp instead of feeding into wider channels of joy and possibility – then it will be time to shift my direction…and think about changing jobs. But whatever title I ever hold the work will always be part of the package, and only through those efforts will I find my way to the wide open sea, beautiful lands, and passion fulfilled.
“Most people don’t recognize opportunity when it comes, because it’s usually dressed in overalls and looks a lot like work.” ~Thomas Edison
As these thoughts and questions simmered throughout my week at Squam Art Workshops (SAW), I couldn’t help but think about a similar spark that caught my attention at the 2008 SAW gathering during a panel discussion with the teachers. An audience member asked everyone on stage what rituals they did each day to get themselves in a creative mood, and I found myself wanting to jump up and say, “YES!” to the answer Penelope Dullaghan gave. I am paraphrasing, but it was something like this: That sometimes she isn’t in the mood, no matter how many candles are lit or rituals are performed; sometimes she wakes up grouchy and tired but she has a deadline to meet and – wait for it – this is her job. Ritual or no, it is her job to create, so create she must do.
In those moments when I would love nothing more than to skip along the sidewalks all day, nap, see a movie, and read, I always have a choice. I am an independent artist and have the freedom to take on as much or as little as I want. It could easily be said that I take on too much, but I approach my work with a take no prisoners attitude because I consider every opportunity to do the work I do is a gift, a gift that is being offered to me because I have worked hard. I followed my passion and - I still can’t believe I get to say this - my job is to create, write, and share my work.
There are plenty of days when things feel out of whack, when I ask myself, “Is this what I really signed up for?” When I started my greeting card line Swirly in 1995 I certainly didn’t anticipate having to spend day after day packing orders of cards. Running that business was a job, let me tell you, but it was my passion for what I was sending in all of those boxes that kept me going. And that’s the deal – when a passion is pursued I need to release the idea that I’ll wake up with bluebirds tying ribbons in my hair and sunbeams streaming through my windows. Pursuing a passion is work. It is effort and time and being willing to take on more than is easy to handle. It is, in the simplest terms, a job.
When I stop feeling that the work I do supports my passions – when the river I’m traversing seems to be stuck in a swamp instead of feeding into wider channels of joy and possibility – then it will be time to shift my direction…and think about changing jobs. But whatever title I ever hold the work will always be part of the package, and only through those efforts will I find my way to the wide open sea, beautiful lands, and passion fulfilled.
“Most people don’t recognize opportunity when it comes, because it’s usually dressed in overalls and looks a lot like work.” ~Thomas Edison
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16 comments:
this has really struck a chord with me today. Thank you for posting it, lots to think on!
x
This hit home today, I even printed it out to remind myself that opportunities sometimes look like do much work, but to do them anyways. :)
so true...it is work and passion rolled into one...and we cannot be on every day`elk
A friend of mine has a friend who is a concert pianist. After a recital one evening, a woman approached him (the pianist) gushing & oohing & aahing, saying she would give anything to be able to play the piano as he did. Knowing the years of work, work, work, practice, practice, practice, hours, hours, hours he had devoted to his - yes - passion, he replied to her apparently not. Not very nice, no, but quite accurate. Inspiration may be the seed, but it needs watering and weeding and protection from the cold and the too-hot sun. It needs work to grow. Great post.
:) Debi
I keep this quote tapped to my computer with reference to work:
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive.
And then go and do that. Because what this world needs are people who have come alive." (Howard Thurman)
Passion can only get us so far then we must work. If I lose sight of what made me passionate, I stop and try to remember what made me passionate about something to begin with. Once I remember what brought me passion I can usually get back to work.
As I get ready to recreate a year's worth of financial transactions due to my external hard drive crashing, I needed to read this. There a lot of tasks for the business of doing my art that I don't really enjoy, but am grateful that I have the choice of when, where and why to do them. I would have it no other way. Thank you for writing this!
Yay to feeling the passion!!
this is an amazing post with fantastic timing. i really needed to read this today. thank you so much for sharing. xo, kaileenelise
Excellent-thanks for reminding us that "work" is not a dirty word.
There is so much to think about in what you wrote. A new perspective.
i really needed to read this right now. thank you, thank you.
There's such a line between "passion" & "job". "Job" has become such a dirty word, but there will be traces of it in every "passion" - things you must do that you're not passionate about so that you can support your passion.
I work with creative clients that are looking to make a career change, & I loved that you wrote "when a passion is pursued I need to release the idea that I’ll wake up with bluebirds tying ribbons in my hair and sunbeams streaming through my windows." I know my clients think that way, & I'm guilty of it too (as I sit here in my cube at my day job, dreaming of the point where I break free & coach full-time). But I think because coaching is my passion, the un-bluebird moments are still OK because they're supporting the bluebird ones. Now, in my cube, I have no bluebird moments. I will take the paperwork for the bluebird moments!
Thanks for letting me flesh that out. A fantastic post, Christine.
You walk the fine line with such grace...xo pix
The Thomas Edison quote is one of my favorites. Your willingness to do the work inspires me, always.
That's it and that's what scares me the most. I am unwilling to do the work it takes to get myself to the level of 'job'. I keep thinking something will come along. Thanks for kicking me in the pants.
I read this when you first posted it and returned again tonight... for strength and support as I package and plow through the work I am privileged to have. Thanks for your insight, eloquence and passion. Now I will go back to my glorious "work".
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