Work vs. Passion

Six months ago I launched imaginedworlds, started publishing Faithful, and created its myspace page. I sought solely to exorcise creative demons and entertainment myself. It’s become a much more rewarding outlet than I expected.

I am creatively empowered for the first time in years and my life is more centered and purposeful. Most of all, I have pushed myself creatively in new directions, and I am having fun do it. I would just as soon write, illustrate and web experiment day and night for the rest of my time on Earth.

Unfortunately, I have a job that requires more hours and effort than the typical grind of a Nine-to-Five. I have bills, lots of debt, and a regiment of expenses. My job has contacted with many successful business people and they have a common refrain whenever asked the secret to success and happiest: “follow your passion” and “do what you enjoy.” If I followed my passion, I would be writing and illustrating on the web full-time or simply doing something that pays and nourishes my creativity. But I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how to transition from the trap of an unfulfilling career (or at least an ill-nurturing professional life) to doing the type of creative activities that enrich me, while also earning a living.

What it mean is I don’t always have time to write and work on the Web as I would like. I don’t always have the energy to keep my web pages as fresh as I would like. There rarely are enough hours in a day to keep up with all the great blogs and websites I’ve discovered and the many fascinating personalities they have introduced me to. The job is often too exhausting, too stressful to give imaginedworlds the attention I’d prefer. And writing and illustrating is time consuming,

I am so enjoying myself. I have no expectation that anyone is reading this or Faithful or visiting my web pages. I am not trying to start a business or parlay a comic or film deal. I only wish to feed that creative bug and push myself to learn and grow. I hope that with time I will strike the right balance. One day I may be able to manage the work I do to live and the life I work to enjoy.