Do what you love for fun, not money

While I was blog-jumping this evening, as Ava crashed so early it made my head spin, I found a post on bluishorange.com that mirrored what I've been hearing all around me lately about friends having dissatisfaction with the job they're doing.

I wrote up a lengthy post in response, which I am posting here in hopes that when I need to read it again, I'll know where to find it, and maybe, just maybe, it will be useful to someone else too!

This boat most of us seem to be in must be a cruise liner for all the people it's holding. (The boat being people not liking their jobs, and not being able to do what they love for money...)

My Dad says often that work is something he does that enables him to do the things he wants to do - like travel.

I'm a part time paid employee at and a Mom who stays at home with her 15 month old daughter 4 days a week. Which job is better? The one where I get paid in money, or the one where I get paid in laughter?

It depends on the day. The money gives me an (artificial, perhaps) sense of worth, the laughter warms my heart and makes me feel like I'm making a difference to my precious little girl. In truth, I need both. My task really is to care about the job as little as possible, and to care about my daughter as much as I can without becoming dramatically overprotective. I don't love my job, but I wonder if I could since the birth of my daughter? I used to be a devoted workaholic in previous jobs, but not now, when I want to be home before bedtime.

In my mind, it's okay to have a job that isn't fulfilling or satisfying, as long as it's just a job. I make the fulfilling part of my life not the part I rely on for money. I need the separation of church and state (love and money). I tried mixing those once and I got creatively blocked.
If I was in anyway qualified to give advice, I would say this: do what you are able to do for money, just don't make your job your life. Do what you love for fun, because you love it, and if it makes you money, consider it a bonus.