When your hobby becomes your job

I’m currently working through an unexpected overlap in my personal and professional life. This isn’t a sudden overlap, but one that’s grown overtime. For as long as I can remember, I was involved in extracurriculars. Be it a sports team or an art class at the local art studio, my parents made sure to keep me busy when I was young! This spilled over into my adult years as well. You see, photography used to be something I did in my free time. It was something I did on my days off when I worked for Starbucks or when I wanted to take a break from studying for exams in college. It was my extracurricular, my little escape from reality. But, three years ago my hobby became my job and overtime I’ve realized something a little bit unexpected, I need a new hobby!

So what does a person do when their hobby becomes their job and they need a new one at the ripe age of twenty-seven?

Well, I don’t actually have the full answer yet. But I can tell you that it’s something I’m currently working through! It’s so important that we carve out time for our minds to rest and recharge; to give ourselves a break from work and finances and to-do lists. Our minds crave extracurricular time away from work. I think this is where hobbies come into play.

So, what am I currently doing to discover said hobby? I touched on this in Wednesday’s post last week, but I’m doing several things. For one, I started reading the book, Big Magic. This book is helping me rediscover a sense of creativity in myself that I sort of forgot about. It makes me feel inspired to get out into the world and find fulfillment outside of work and mundaneness (is that a word? I digress). It’s been a beautiful reminder that we were all created for more than working and paying bills (the Bible is also a good reminder of these things ;)). Aside from reading, I’ve pushed myself to write more often and share it publicly on my blog. These things combined have begun to invite creative thinking back into my mind. I think that perhaps through this creative thinking, new hobbies will once again emerge.

What I’m starting to uncover from this recent realization though, is that you must be the one to take action. As with most things in life, hobbies and interests don’t just land on your lap. When you pursue creativity, it too will find you.

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