Chris Bowler (fellow Canadian and fellow writer) wrote the following on his personal weblog:
“Being a spouse, a parent, a congregrant — these things all take time and energy. Doing what you love for a job so easily takes over your thought life, everything else can get lip service only.”
As someone who took that dive back in late 2010, I know all too well how this can happen. You work so hard to make it all work that you find yourself doing nothing but. That’s when the lip service – as Chris puts it – begins.
The way I’ve been able to combat that is partly through experience (I’ve gotten better at it as the months pass) but also by reminding myself that I am donig what I love to do to show my kids (and otehrs) that you can do it and make a living at it. I don’t think that it’s all due to my “making it work” that has put me in a better position at this juncture of my freelance career, I think it’s because I see my kids every day while I work from home that I can keep perspective on things better than ever before.1
Doing what you love for you isn’t enough, especially if you have kids to support. Because in many cases the risks of doing it are just too high for you to take. But if you’re willing to do what you love for those you love – including yourself – then you stand to have a better success at doing it for the long.
And you’re better able to shift while you’re doing it.
1And I’m not saying at all that Chris can’t…or isn’t.
