Doing What You Love — Part 2
The effect of being exposed to more people on a regular basis who seem to be doing what they love.
This post is the second entry in a multi-part series I decided to write to explore the concept of doing what you love. Part 1 can be found here.
Since moving to NYC and specifically Brooklyn over four years ago now, I’ve been exposed, on a regular basis, to more people than ever who seem, at least from the outside, to be doing what they love. It feels like this has been one of the major influences on me related to the topic of dong what you love, which continues to occupy more and more of my thinking over time.
It really feels like everywhere I turn, I’m meeting and interacting with people who are doing what they love. Thinking about this now, I also think that I’m choosing to highlight these people when I meet them, while choosing to let those who don’t seem to be doing what they love, come and go from my field of attention.
I identify people who seem to be doing what they love as people who seem to be genuinely happy doing what they’re doing. So I guess I see a direct connection between happiness and doing what you love. Now, of course, what I’m perceiving on the outside could be completely different than what’s going on for each person I meet who seems to be happy doing what they’re doing. However, at the same time, I experience a sense of happiness interacting with these people as well, especially now that I’m working to allow myself to be more open and receptive to these happy experiences.
In a sense, it seems like being around people who are doing what they love makes me happy. I find the positive energy, enthusiasm, and optimism invigorating and motivating.
I think that it is these interactions that have really opened me up to start thinking about the concept of whether or not it is possible for a person to do what they love, as it feels like, more than ever, I’m being surrounded by more and more people who are indeed doing what they love.
I interact with these people in different places and in many ways. I meet them at places like the Brooklyn Flea and most recently, the Renegade Craft Fair. I come into contact with them at the small, independently owned businesses throughout Brooklyn, as well as the farmer’s markets. I interact with them while I’m exercising, either cycling or doing yoga. I see them working at the co-working place close to home and moving briskly through the halls of the apartment building where I live. I read about them in magazines like Inc., Entreprenuer, and Moncole, as well as on a multitude of blogs.
Writing this post, as the exercise usually does, sparks another thought. And, as usual, the thought is unexpected and doesn’t have neat, logical, and satisfying explanation, at least right now. As a result, I’m having some difficulty getting it into words. In short and resisting the urge to get the words just right, I’m beginning to realize that my perception of people doing what they love may also be a strong reflection of some of the things I would love doing, which would then contribute to a happy state of being.
