Systemic Marty linked me to an Onion article that really really made me sad:

Find The Thing You’re Most Passionate About, Then Do It On Nights And Weekends For The Rest Of Your Life

This is pretty much what you’re reading right now, the thing I do on nights and weekends. Anyway, ouch. But I figured you guys would want to read it. My favorite bit:

It could be anything—music, writing, drawing, acting, teaching—it really doesn’t matter. All that matters is that once you know what you want to do, you dive in a full 10 percent and spend the other 90 torturing yourself because you know damn well that it’s far too late to make a drastic career change, and that you’re stuck on this mind-numbing path for the rest of your life.

Is there any other way to live?

This comic, Super Art Fight, freelance, it has all fit around a “day job” of some sort for me. I’m honestly not sure if I could do these things full time, as all my ideas come from my experiences in said day jobs. Some people (like Austin Kleon’s Steal Like an Artist) will tell you this is fine, and that a job gives you stability and money and insurance, therefore the freedom to do what you want the way you want to do it. Others would clearly say that this is bullshit, and you should be doing what you want with your time.

I think you need to have things you do outside of your job. Hobbies, or more likely in this day and age a hobby that seems more like a side business in some way, help give you something else to think about and help hone the skills that employers wish you had but aren’t willing to pay for, or at the least help keep you sane while meanwhile driving you insane.

What do you think? Should you be basically serving more mistresses? Should we all be doing exactly what we love? Is it ever this simple? What do you do when you aren’t fulfilling your tons of commitments? Seriously, I’m asking.

Go read the whole thing and be sad »