All in All, I'd Rather be Taking Pictures!

I was having a conversation with a friend about working, and we came to the conclusion that we both pretty much dislike "having to work" equally.

I recently had a birthday, and when I look back across the decades... I just about never enjoyed working. I know some people love to work, and some love to work as long as it is meaningful work, but neither of those are feelings I have really experienced.

Am I just a lazy bum?

As our conversation unfolded, one of the things I became more and more aware of is how closely my dislike of working is tied to that deeper feeling I've always had: A deep and abiding loathing of "feeling obligated."

Work — if you think about it — is an obligation, of sorts. That's definitely not in its favor, in my world!

My friend observed that I am definitely not a lazy bum — in his opinion — because I work very hard at things like the vegetable garden, and paying attention to details in nature, and finding patterns in information, and finding things on the beach, and even my writing.

Lazy bums just sit on the couch, watching TV

I actually don't like TV. If someone asked me if I could live the rest of my life without TV, I would quite sincerely be able to say "yes," and have no regrets about it.

I was raised in a family where the "general narrative" was that work was something we did because it was expected of us and the idea of finding any measure of happiness in your work was totally coincidental.

I just could never get behind that type of sentiment, and so I went to considerable lengths to study things like "work purpose" and establishing what was important to me.

The title of this post points in the right direction... but there are 50 million (OK, that's an exaggeration) people in the world who take close-up pictures of flowers, but why not turn the interest in to something like wedding photography?

Well, because I suck at taking pictures of people.

Ironically, I'm pretty good at taking pictures of cats and dogs. But there's not much of a market for that.

What you like isn't generally anything people are willing to pay money for...

I think that is perhaps something most self-employed people have wrestled with, at one time or another. I love what I do but it isn't something that can make me a living... UNLESS I work 90 hours a week, at which point I would no longer "love what I'm doing."

So, I am a free-lance book editor (among other things) which I am definitely quite good at, even if I don't particularly enjoy it.

I'd rather be working in the garden, growing things.

I'd rather be writing something creative, fun, insightful, funny, educational or such... and it's a thrill that once in a while I end up making a few dollars from my blogging!

Like most things in life, freedom comes at a price. In this case, freedom meaning the freedom to do your own thing, unencumbered by obligations and external demands.

You get something, and you have to give up something.

It is the ebb and flow of life.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about you? Do you enjoy working? Or would you rather not? Do you enjoy YOUR work? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

(All text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is ORIGINAL CONTENT, created expressly for this platform — Not posted elsewhere!)

Created at 2024.09.04 00:34PDT
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