When I was an undergrad in the middle of the Material Girl 80s, I don 麻豆精品 S檛 remember anyone 麻豆精品 S攁 professor, a parent, or even a random guy on the street (or in the career counseling center) 麻豆精品 S攅ver telling me to 麻豆精品 S渄o what I love and the money will follow. 麻豆精品 S� And while author Marsha Sinetar released her book with the same title in 1989, the year I graduated from college, it never showed up as a graduation gift.
Instead, I heard 麻豆精品 S淕et a job. 麻豆精品 S� (And: 麻豆精品 S淵ou 麻豆精品 S檝e only got six months before you start paying off that student loan. 麻豆精品 S�)
I was encouraged by many, of course, to find work that I would enjoy, that would maximize my skills and my creativity. I was raised to believe money didn 麻豆精品 S檛 matter all that much. But I wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 told to 麻豆精品 S渇ind your passion 麻豆精品 S� and, if I was, I 麻豆精品 S檓 not sure I could have found it 麻豆精品 Sven if you 麻豆精品 S檇 given me a glass of wine and a life coach.
It 麻豆精品 S檚 possible this is a Midwest sentiment. I grew up in the heartland, raised by first-generation Americans. We 麻豆精品 S檙e known to be relentlessly practical (and polite). And, it 麻豆精品 S檚 possible, I was told this and no longer remember because I didn 麻豆精品 S檛 take it seriously.
This may seem odd to my creative writing students and people who know me well, because I am a person who is passionate about many things, especially reading literature and trying to write it. My mother says I began reading at 3 and even if she 麻豆精品 S檚 exaggerating, my favorite childhood memories are summer days in the hammock with my library books. When I wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 reading, I was writing or, at least, watching the world as a writer does, observing and analyzing while trying to make meaning out of it all. Not much has changed in 40-some years. But still it seems odd to call it my 麻豆精品 S減assion; 麻豆精品 S� it 麻豆精品 S檚 simply who I am as a person. The act of writing rarely feels like an act of passion. It just feels hard.
After graduation, I spent the next 15 years writing for various advertising and marketing companies. I wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 passionate about these positions, necessarily, but there were projects I became passionate about. At night, I still read and I wrote what I wanted to write, not what I was paid to do. I joined writing groups and book clubs; I went to workshops and readings. I published a few things. I even got paid a few times. I 麻豆精品 S檓 mathematically challenged, but if I had to guess I 麻豆精品 S檇 say I average about .0002 cents an hour for my creative work (and that 麻豆精品 S檚 probably a high estimate).
I suppose to many that doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 feel like success or, at least, it certainly doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 seem to correlate with the notion that 麻豆精品 S渢he money will follow. 麻豆精品 S� The money, for my 麻豆精品 S減assion, 麻豆精品 S� hasn 麻豆精品 S檛 even limped behind me. And while I 麻豆精品 S檓 happy it worked out for Walt Disney and Steve Jobs, I lose zero sleep over my own 麻豆精品 S減assion 麻豆精品 S� income.
When I started the MFA program in creative writing in my late 30s, I looked at it as a gift I gave myself. For years, I felt as if I wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 improving artistically on my own. I get weary when people say 麻豆精品 S渨riting can 麻豆精品 S檛 be taught. 麻豆精品 S� Of course, it can. It 麻豆精品 S檚 the equivalent of saying trumpet players are born that way. My professors helped me shape my work in immeasurable ways. I 麻豆精品 S檓 forever grateful.
While I was there, I taught as a graduate teaching assistant and found I loved teaching. After I graduated, I was fortunate enough to be hired. I tell everyone 麻豆精品 S攐ften 麻豆精品 S攈ow much I love my job. I work hard to do my job well and to keep growing as an educator. I feel like it was something I was born to do, but I 麻豆精品 S檓 still not sure I would call it 麻豆精品 S渇ollowing my passion. 麻豆精品 S� I am passionate about my students. I am passionate about the work we read and the work they write. I am passionate about the service-learning work they engage in. When I stop being passionate about these things, I 麻豆精品 S檒l find something else to do. But even though the term 麻豆精品 S減assion 麻豆精品 S� remains problematic for me, I suppose I reserve it for my own creative work 麻豆精品 Shich still hasn 麻豆精品 S檛 produced any real income despite a growing list of publications.
My students often ask me how to make a living as a writer of literature. I know very few people who do, so I send the students to speak with visiting authors and others in our department. I tell them about jobs they can get as students with degrees in the humanities. I 麻豆精品 S檓 convinced studying the arts 麻豆精品 S攁nd trying to create your own art 麻豆精品 S攎akes you a better person, one this world desperately needs. I 麻豆精品 S檓 hugely proud of them and their willingness to pursue this path.
But I worry about this rhetoric we seem to collectively agree on, one that assumes everyone has a 麻豆精品 S減assion 麻豆精品 S� that 麻豆精品 S檚 full of power and just waiting to be unearthed and used for financial gain. Some people do; some people may not. But I believe everyone has a purpose, and everyone can find activities that fulfill them. And, sure, those activities can absolutely lead to jobs, but they don 麻豆精品 S檛 have to.
If you do what you love 麻豆精品 S攐r what you like or what you find important or useful for yourself or for the causes you believe in 麻豆精品 S攊t 麻豆精品 S檚 possible 麻豆精品 S渢he money will follow. 麻豆精品 S� But it 麻豆精品 S檚 also possible, it won 麻豆精品 S檛.
Do it anyway.
Laurie Uttich an instructor of creative writing in the English Department.聽She can be reached at聽laurie.uttich@ucf.edu.