The folly of trying to monetize love

Just stop with this BS already

“How can we take the things that you love to do, and turn them into income streams that work?”

That was the message of a recent email newsletter I received from a... personality I follow.

Um, how can we not?

My immediate reaction was EW, STOP.

Why are we, as a culture, so obsessed with making everything about WORK?

Not that there's anything wrong with work per se, but when you make something "work", it inevitably takes the joy out of it.

I used to love writing. I used to write all the time as a child, as a teenager, heck - even as a young adult.

Poetry, prose, long reflective (rambly, angsty) pieces about the state of the world and my existence within it -

[Kinda like what I do here.]

And then someone said

“Hey Crunch, you’re pretty good at writing. How about we pay you to write stuff (that we want, not of your own choosing)?”

At that time, I was living in Costa Rica and making $600 a month (and paying $300 in rent), so I jumped at the opportunity.

You’ll pay me to do something I love and enjoy…