You Don't Need to Earn Money for Everything You Do
You can do things just to enjoy them
Hello all! It’s been quite a while since I have been active here on Substack. I have been thinking about becoming active on here since I started becoming active again on my Instagram.
Despite the long time away, thanks for being here and I hope you enjoy today’s post.
A few months ago I started a new hobby. Upon listening to a few podcasts, I decided that I was going to start up my own sourdough starter to make my own bread.
Getting the starter established was… stressful, to say the least. But, after about a month of a lot of bumps in the road I managed to get an established starter and was able to start making great homemade bread.
And with that homemade sourdough bread, also came all the awesome sourdough discard recipes: sourdough english muffins, sourdough pizza dough, sourdough chocolate chip cookies, sourdough pancakes, etc.
After about a month or two I started feeling really comfortable with it. I no longer needed to reference my recipe because I had it all memorized. My routine became mix and ferment two loaves worth of dough one day, then split the dough in half, shape them, cold proof, and bake one loaf immediately then bake the other loaf about 2 days later. It was the perfect routine and it allowed me to have bread for the whole week for my little family.
It was around this time that someone told me, “You know if you like doing this, you can start selling your bread. I’ve seen people doing this lately” and then they went on with, “You could even start your own bakery”.
You would think upon hearing something like this that I might get some excitement. An “oh cool a new idea of something I could do that’s different from exclusively doing therapy all the time for work” blah blah blah.
But, no, that’s not how I reacted at all. Immediately I felt tension in my body. I clenched up. I was stressed even upon the thought of it. The idea of making any more than 2 loaves a week, (other than maybe an occasional extra for a get together or something) felt like way too much.
The comment actually reminded me of comments I received years ago when I was deep into practicing watercolor painting. After doing a weekly class for several months, I started getting numerous people telling me, “You know, you could sell these”.
I never decided to sell my paintings because, again, the idea of doing brought up a lot of stress for me.
I decided not to sell my paintings or my bread or whatever other hobby that I’ve had in the past not because I didn’t think the quality was good enough. It’s never been about worry over the quality of it. And it’s also not because I don’t need the money (I, like many people today, could always use more money).
Rather, it’s always been a “no” for me because it takes the joy away.
I enjoy painting. I enjoy baking. But the second I have to think about all the logistics that come with selling those things, it suddenly becomes less enjoyable. Now it feels like a lot work and that’s simply not what I want to turn my moments of joy into.
I just want to do things that I enjoy just to enjoy it.
In recent years, it been kind of “trendy” to turn your hobbies into a form of income and I think there are many reasons for that, partially systemic and partially cultural/individual. While there is an obvious truth to there being benefits to doing work that you enjoy (I wouldn’t be writing to you here today if that weren’t the case), there needs to be some kind of balance.
When we feel stressed, pressured, or tense over an idea then it’s probably a clear sign that that probably isn’t going to be a sustainable decision. However, if there’s energy there, like if the idea gets you excited, energized, inspired, etc. then you’re likely more on the right track.
And it is worth noting, as I said in the title of this article: You don’t need to earn money for every single thing that you do. You can do things just to enjoy them and nothing more. It’s okay to enjoy things just to enjoy them.
Having hobbies just for the sake of having hobbies is a totally normal human behavior and it’s incredibly sad that it seems to have collectively diminished in recent decades.
I will note that some may argue that this viewpoint comes from a place of privilege, which is certainly a valid argument. However, I will also say that another way to look at it is that this viewpoint could also be viewed at as a form of resistance. As the The Nap Ministry’s creator, Tricia Hersey says “rest is a form of resistance”.
When we rest, we resist.
When we enjoy things just for the sake of enjoyment, we resist.
When we do what feels true to ourselves rather than doing things out of fear, we resist.
Content I’ve appreciated this week:
The Culture Study’s recent article, The Case Against Budget Culture.
I recently started diving in to the book Ordinary Insanity by Sarah Menkedick, which is essentially a deep dive into the history, science, psychology and cultural influences of modern motherhood in America.
Marianne Williamson’s comments about the LA Fires.
This sourdough discard pizza recipe that is absolutely amazing.
I have also resisted selling my photography and fabric art for the same reason. Of course , I could use the money. I’m slowing down how much I can work for income as I age. But I also need that creative outlet without thinking about what a customer would want.
That was refreshing. And a much needed reminder. When we do things for joy, it restores and nourishes. When we try and monetize every idea, every hobby, every little thing, the energy shifts. It becomes frantic and demanding. Joy gets lost in that shuffle.
Thank you for permission to enjoy life without financial expectation.