Labors of Love: How To Make Your Personal Interests Into A Career
There is an old saying that goes “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life”. This is not necessarily true, of course. Even the most gifted and artistic Renaissance painters no doubt had days where they couldn’t quite get the color balance right and felt like they were wasting their time. Sometimes, even the best jobs in the world can feel like hard work - because if you have to do it to pay the bills, it’s a job, and you can’t walk away from it.
Nonetheless, it is true to say that if you put your creative interests into what you do for a living, you’re much less likely to end up in a job that you resent. Statistics suggest that anything from 60-85% of people are unsatisfied in their jobs, and that’s horrendous if you stop to think about it for a moment. During any average week, we will spend most of our waking hours doing a job to ensure that we have enough money to live on - and if that happens to be a job we can’t stand, it is incompatible with a truly happy life.
So if the opportunity presents itself to do something for a living that we genuinely appreciate, it’s a chance we should take with both hands. That’s not just because it will make our lives easier, either. If you’re doing a job you’re emotionally invested in, you’re likely to be better at it. If you’re working in a call center dealing with angry customers, and you find the job stressful and interminable, it doesn’t lend itself to you busting a gut to help those customers with their (often legitimate) complaints. Whereas if you’re working in a field that enthuses you, you’re much more likely to do everything in your power to send people away happy.
Below, we will look at some ways you can take your personal interests and meld them into a career. Some of these options depend on taking on a qualification, which takes time but is often ultimately worth it. Others will require you to take your own initiative and run with it - which should be much easier when you recognize that it’s a chance to monetize your labor of love.
If you love animals…
It only takes a few minutes browsing social media to see how much the human race has become head-over-heels in love with the animal kingdom. Pictures and videos of cats, dogs, raccoons and even the previously-unsung capybara are greeted with acres of replies expressing delight in these creatures. Animals are easy to love - they provide affection, laughter and a constant source of conversation. And it’s no surprise that working in the veterinary sector, with all sorts of veterinary jobs available, is a popular career path.
Be aware, working as a vet - or a vet nurse or technician - won’t be a bed of roses. By the very nature of the job, you’ll be working with animals who aren’t in the best of conditions. It’s inevitable that, on a regular basis, you’ll see a pet who can’t be helped any more and needs to be humanely released from its pain. It’s not easy - but on balance, you will more often see animals you can do something for, and in some cases your intervention can add years to the life of a much-loved pet.
If you want something less emotionally demanding - and you’ve got the space - you could consider running a cattery or kennel complex where owners can leave their pets when they go on holiday. It takes some forward planning, but a solid knowledge of what’s best for animals and a keenness to provide them with what they need will ensure you are a success in this field.
If you love people…
The world often doesn’t feel fair. All of us know at least one person who has had great unhappiness befall them and who deserves so much better. It’s the most normal thing in the world to want to help them, and when you can do that, and make things better for just one person, there are few feelings that can match that.
We can also say with confidence that bad luck tends to spread. So many of the heart-rending wrongs that happen in the world result in some part from one person’s misfortune: crime is often connected to deprivation or injustice; poor mental health is frequently a direct result of financial loss or personal trauma. It stands to reason that if people can turn their luck around, that their good fortune can spread too. We tend to refer to this as “paying it forward”.
If you get a lift from lifting others, then there are plenty of occupations that could be perfect for you. Teaching is one, charity work another. Sometimes, though, the people with the most acute need of help can fall through gaps, and need more acute help. Becoming a crisis counsellor, working with people in the throes of addiction or homelessness, and using the compassion techniques learned through your religious studies, can do an immense amount of good. If you turn around one life that you can see, you may well be helping to turn around untold numbers by virtue of a domino effect.
If you love to travel…
We sometimes take for granted the stunning diversity of landscapes on the planet we inhabit. From a dramatic volcanic island like Iceland to a dreamy tropical vista such as Costa Rica, there’s so much to see on the face of this earth, and a love of travel offers the chance to see it all. However, it is not cheap to travel constantly: the plane fares alone mean that we have to limit our journeys to a few times a year.
One way that you can see more of the world and not suffer financially is to make travel part of your job. There are some obvious ways, such as becoming a flight attendant (or a pilot, which has a higher degree of difficulty and requires a lot more training. You could look for one of the many jobs that are available on cruise ships - if you know where to look, then there’s always employment to be found whether it’s working behind a bar, organizing entertainment, cleaning or in maintenance around the ship.
Being less “route one” about it, you could also consider approaches such as teaching English as a foreign language. Pick just about any country in the world - even including those with English as an official language - and there will be jobs available for people who can teach English. You will usually require certification, which is not difficult to come by, and you’ll have the chance to see parts of the world you’d only dreamed of, while getting paid for it. You can also make connections in the field which will help alert you to opportunities in other countries - so if you don’t put down roots you may find yourself touring the world.
All of the above are ways to find a job that you can really love, and put some more positivity out into the world as a result. It’s not a guarantee that you’ll be permanently happy in any job - because that’s just not possible - but looking for jobs in these areas does allow you to dream of a future in which you feel confident getting out of bed in the morning, ready to enjoy another day. In this day and age, where it’s unacceptably rare to find people in jobs that make them happy, that’s something to value.
