We’ve heard it all before. Do what you love and the money will follow. That mantra is partly responsible for my current career as a freelance writer. I have always enjoyed writing, so I found a way to parlay that into a full-time job. To some people, this may sound like the best possible scenario.
At the same time, you might remember when I discussed the risks of turning a hobby into a business. When faced with challenges and repetition, you can start focusing too much on fiscal viability and less on enjoyment. The lines can become so blurred that it always feels like you’re on the clock. While I certainly don’t regret my professional decision, I also understand that true life-work balance requires something outside of the world of work.
The additional challenge is that Beyond the Rhetoric, while partly a professional blog on personal development and freelance writing, is also a personal blog. I write about the meals that I eat, the trips that I take, and the movies that I watch. In this way, what may be considered leisure to most people can almost become like work for me. This blog does not make nearly as much money as my main freelance writing business, but it does make some money. And as such, it is a business and I treat it accordingly.
Yes, much of what I do for fun is related to work. I enjoy video games, but I also do video game reviews, as well as cover various gaming and technology-related events. I love playing Street Fighter, and while I don’t do it competitively, I do run Hadouken Online and have written on other sites about fighting games. I attend Dot Com Pho to socialize with friends, but I also produce many of the videos. A hobby of mine is photography, as evidenced by my Flickr photostream, but I also take photos for my clients and for this blog.
It is along this line of thought that I started to ask myself whether I had any hobbies and interests that weren’t at all related to the world of work. I realized that I do, but they are few and far between. I enjoy watching hockey and football, though I rarely write about either. I’m known to watch many of the programs on HGTV, both about real estate and about home renovation, but I don’t really write about those topics either.
The more I think about it, the more I’m wondering whether having significant hobbies that are completely not related to work is something that I should actively pursue. What do you think? Is it more about life-work integration than work-life balance?
I think that because of your unique position as a freelancer and blogger that your hobbies have developed into part of your business world. I don’t see the Mario stuff that you like all over your blog or mentioned but in passing on Twitter, so you do like a lot of things besides the things you mention in the post.
I’d like to add that until you decided to get married you completely hid Susanne from the world. Now you mention her on a regular basis and have even had her in some of your videos from trips that are work related. In the past you avoided having even her bags or things in videos, where now they are more prevalent.
It’s a comfort thing, that while you do add things to your work from hobbies, I don’t see you not enjoying them. Your pictures are truly works of art that people can tell are from your enjoyment of taking the picture, not getting a picture for a post or client. If you could retire today you would still take pictures, you would still play video games and I believe you would still go to Dot Com Pho and produce the videos for the fun of it.
I think it is important that we take up and enjoy hobbies that are non-work related.
The distinction will help bring our minds off work matters and achieve relaxation that is detached from work.