Community season 4: Proof that more of a good thing can be bad.
That’s the brilliant way that writer Molly Conway puts it, the old advice that bears repeating: When you’re good at something, people will tell you to turn it into your job, but you don’t have to. You probably don’t want to. Doing something for money is very different than doing it for fun. Still, in the modern world, whenever we see someone’s talent, we encourage them to use it to make money. Conway talks about meeting a woman who made her own dress:
“Wow!” I said. “It’s gorgeous. Do you have an Etsy shop or…?” And suddenly, it was like all the light went out of the room. She looked down despairingly. “No,” she sighed. “Everyone keeps telling me I should, but I just wouldn’t know where to start.” I recognized the look of a woman suddenly overwhelmed by people’s expectations of her.Giving yourself a retail job
It’s a great founding myth for a business: I love baking, so I started this bakery chain. I’m a sneakerhead, and I just got VC funding for my shoe-collecting app. Everyone said I knit the best sweaters, and now you can subscribe to Cardigan of the Month. Welcome to my Etsy, read my Kindle single, buy a mug off my Shopify, here’s my Patreon, yes I take Apple Pay. A business that fulfills a passion is fantastic! But as I’ve written before, it’s not at like doing a hobby, but more. Behind the magazine profiles and the slick storefront, there’s tons of grunt work. A lot of the time, you’re giving yourself a retail job.
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Hazel’s comment
I could not agree more!!!
Knitting sweaters for my kids when they were younger (they would not thank me for a handmade one nowadays) was a joy. Making something for someone else was a chore, and a worry. What if it isn't right? What if she doesn’s like it?
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