Doing what you do is a way of being You.
When was the last time you were working on your usual daily tasks and thought to yourself: God, I feel so much passion for my work. I love my job. If you love doing what you do, all the work seems like play. My work is like playing. I love my work.
So, when was the last time? You might thought about it in two occasions. Right now and the first time you’ve heard about “doing work you love”. Or maybe you were just comparing yourself to others to see if you’re really eligible to say that. And you probably didn't say that. Or even think it. Or you just thought: Sometimes.
Do you know why you don’t go around jumping and singing about your love for your work? Because it’s bullshit. Well, you might do that if you’re a fricking “Linkedin influencer”. Otherwise you’re just a cool, normal human being. Who has work, I hope. And does something that is good at.
Why am I trashing this “I love my job” thing? Because, when it really matters, when you really are doing something you enjoy and you’re good at, it’s not love. “Love” comes after you accomplish something with your work. When you do something great for the society. And even then it’s not “love”, it’s perhaps a “contribution”.
You don’t love your job. You love who you are.
It’s a calling. It’s something you can’t resist. It’s an obsession. It a time stopper, space emptier, life definer. It’s an activity you have no control on whether you do it or not. You must do it. You are compelled to do it.
Picasso had to paint. Einstein had to think. Da Vinci had to invent. Hemingway had to write. Gates had to Windows. Jobs had to iPhone.
Doing what you do is a way of being You. Yourself. Your core being. You zen. You cannot escape from being you. You can deny it for a while, but life has great ways to bring you back to yourself. It makes you ill, it burns you out, it makes you miserable when you’re not doing what you do, what you are.
Don’t do what you love. Do what you must. Do what you are.
I’m on a 23rd day of my 100 Days of Writing Challenge.