Passion

"We must absolutely do what we love or we run the risk of doing nothing at all."

What is your passion? Are you one of the lucky few who love your work? (I seriously believe that if you love what you do then it's not actually like work at all). I don't believe I know very many people who truly love what they do. One thing I know for sure is that architecture is not my passion. I mean... I enjoy a well-designed building as much as the next person, but to be honest, I don't want to be the one responsible for designing it. All of the restrictions placed on architecture, budget and building codes for example, limit it to the point where it feels like a chore to me and not much of an art. Maybe that's because I was typically only allowed to draft details of the construction, and I had very little to do with the actual design, the artistic part. You have very little choice, or artistic liberty, when it comes to drawing the detail of how a wall connects to the foundation. Buildings would fall down if people got creative with construction details. I was never really able to see my ideas come into creation as an architectural intern. Am I bitter about that? Maybe a little. If anything, I'm more mad at myself for being sucked down the wrong path, but if anything I guess I learned a great deal from it.

I am an artist. Duh! It took me this long to figure that out?! I mean, I feel like I've been holding myself back for the past 10 years. I really do feel as if I've been doing nothing at all... except for those little things that I enjoy doing in my free time. Like putting together scrapbooks and making homemade bows for Christmas presents. My time has not been wasted, because it has been spent learning.

All that I want is to love what I do... so I guess that I should start by doing what I love. The trick seems to be making money doing what you love. Money is definitely not my motivating factor, because money does not buy happiness... and I know enough people who make a lot of money who are not necessarily happy to know that I'm not going down that path. Do you know anyone who chose a career for the money? Do they love what they do?

Lately, I've spent a lot of my time thinking about what I love and how to make a living doing it. Making a living is not to be confused with getting rich. Bills need paying. If anything, unemployment has been a blessing for giving me the chance to think about things. Maybe I'll create the job that's meant for me. Working for myself would be a dream come true. Working for someone else or not, I hope to be passionate about whatever it is I do.