If I could pick one thing that I love to do and do it for the rest of my life, it would be to cook.

I love to cook!

Something about being able to take a bunch of things and turn them into one thing, while trying to balance out their attributes and contributions in such a way that it allows them to complement each other and create something new, as if they were always supposed to be together to begin with, excites me. I flat out enjoy it. I don’t look at cooking as a chore or a bother, but rather an opportunity to create, share and sometimes teach. My mom feels the same way, so it could be hereditary.

Whenever I get the chance to cook for others, I get a bit giddy. For example, I have a dinner party that I throw annually in the fall and I plan it out months in advance. From the planting of the vegetables, in order to make everything from scratch or ensure it is organic, to keeping a cache of homemade chicken stock in the freezer, I make every effort to make the meal an experience. The party lasts a few hours, but the preparations start months in advance. I do this out of love and appreciation and not out of showmanship. Regardless, I am a “pleaser”, so it’s important that people enjoy the time spent together along with the food and both should be memorable.

Here’s the catch, I wouldn’t want to do it for a living.

If I was given the opportunity to make the same amount of money or maybe a little more to cook all day, I believe I would pass.  I wouldn’t want to make this passion in my life into the thing that provides for my family. I do not want to take something that brings me joy and often balance and turn it into something that I may have to force myself to do in the future. Life gives us so few creative outlets that we truly appreciate, without reservation, and it would be a shame to bastardize these opportunities by turning them into something that becomes the source of our financial livelihood or worse; they become mundane. Many careers or things in our lives have become “have to” and we all need something to keep the creative fires burning and help to maintain balance. Life needs more “love to” moments, don’t you agree?

“Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. -Mark Twain.

Mark Twain said find something you “enjoy” doing; he never suggested that you should create a career around your passion. There’s a difference between “enjoy” and “passion” and it’s important to not get them confused.  I love what I do for a living, but deep down, I show up every day because the checks don’t bounce and they afford me the opportunities that feed my passions. My children, my wife, my family, and making marinara from scratch. I would cook a meal for free, but I don’t know if I would offer to do free radio for anyone who requested.

Mark Twain had a passion for piloting riverboats (the origin of his pen name) but he paid the bills with a typewriter. One afforded him opportunities while the other gave him balance, life experience, a platform for storytelling and a pen name.

#Tryharder to not get things twisted. It’s wonderful to be able to do a job that you enjoy. A job that challenges you or fills certain needs, because nobody wants to spend eight or more hours a day hating life doing something that has little to no value to them.

I believe your hobby or passion needs to remain an outlet that provides a means of escape. A deviation from the grind of life and a place that allows you to repair and possible create in ways you are not able to with your other obligations. We all need to have that “thing” that is ours. Something where we get to control who gets to experience it with us and when we decide to share it with the world.  Something that isn’t forced and is only dictated by your own timeline.

Making your life’s passion your career might be attractive to you on the surface, but I believe some things should stay yours and yours alone.