Paid to Eat Pancakes: The Truth about “Passions”

I think it's sometimes easy for (passionate) programmers to forget that they happen to be obsessed with something that is also a highly marketable skill. From our little group of elementary school computer enthusiasts only one other guy and I were into programming. It's only the two of us who still make a living working with our passion, the "traders" and "swappers" did not turn out to have hobbies that extended into multi-decade long careers.

Beyond the retro-definition of the word "passion", I agree that "doing what you love" is a pretty naive view of the work world. When I get asked "What would you want to do all day," I answer "drink, play video games, and look at naked girls." Nobody wants to pay me to do that, trust me. I do, on the other hand enjoy programming. I also get sick of it.<p>tl;dr: A career is ruining an activity you enjoy in the name of money.

A lot of great points raised, but there's still something to be said for working in a field you enjoy. Forget the semantic dance around the meaning of the word "passion" for a minute.<p>Let's take the author's hypothetical example of the person who's really into composting. Maybe this person isn't "passionate" about composting to the point of stark-raving obsession, but pretty much anywhere just shy of that mark is feasible. This person is probably better served working in the gardening industry -- maybe as a landscape designer, or an executive at a home &#38; garden brand, or starting up a community or zine or product line around gardening, etc. -- than in, say, the auto industry.<p>What determines whether or not this person should <i>actually</i> pursue his "passion" for composting in the professional arena? The degree of love for the subject, certainly, but also risk tolerance and perseverence. Those are the two critical, but oft-overlooked factors that the "follow your passion!" self-help gurus gloss over.<p>The hard truth is that not everyone's cut out for following his or her passion. Some have the drive, the obsession, the work ethic, the aptitude, and the right mix of circumstances to make it happen. Some don't. The real trick isn't testing how strong your passion is; it's testing how strong <i>you</i> are.

Worth noting: the word "amateur" means "lover of" or "love doing".<p>Someone who is "professional", on the other hand, is a person who gets consistently the same result from doing the same work. This is generally what people pay for.<p>Now would you rather want to be someone who loves what they're doing or someone who's basically a working machine?<p>Going from passionate amateur to passionate professional is extremely difficult.

I think there's a difference between making a living and making a life. I bet, if I was passionate enough about eating pancakes, I could find some way to make a living. That living might be substandard and only provide cheap room and board plus bad nutritional intake from consuming nothing but pancakes. However, I bet I could do it. I could not make a life, e.g. one where I could provide for my family, buy a new car, travel to France, learn to scuba dive, etc, etc.<p>If you're truly passionate enough about something, you can make a living at it. It just may not be a very good one.

I once heard a good definition of "passion" that fits this context - it's when something gets you up in the morning and keeps you up at night.