Do What You Love & Get Paid

“There’s something inside you that knows when you’re in the center, that knows when you’re on the beam or off the beam. And if you get off the beam to earn money, you’ve lost your life. And if you stay in the center and don’t get any money, you still have your bliss.”
- Joseph Campbell

All your life you’ve been told what you can and cannot do. You’ve probably believed it for so long, it’s hard to get past the shoulds and should-nots, the cans and cannots.
If you’re reading this article, though, there is a part of you that has whispered, or perhaps even shouted. “What if… ?” What if you could follow your passion? What if you could find your bliss?
But how?
• As Oscar Wilde said, “Be yourself. Everybody else is taken.” I will say that if you don’t offer your dreams to the world, you’re not only short-changing yourself, you’re cheating the world out of the gift of the message of your soul.
• Do it out of need. Your own need to offer, and the need of the world to receive what you alone have to give. Use the need, the urgency to propel you.
• As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Take the first step in faith.” One step leads to another. But you only have to take one step at a time.
• Do it in a way that makes you at once safe and vulnerable. There’s nothing quite like exposing your deepest soul to the light of day. This is likely to be a challenging act. So, do it in a way that makes you feel held.
If that means starting your stand-up career at night and keeping a day job for some financial security, do that. If it means sharing your writing with close friends before working to get it published, do that. If it means trying on acting with your kids before auditioning at the local theater, do that.
I think you catch my drift.
That said, you’ve got to be willing to take risks.
Following your bliss is not for the faint of heart. It’s a courageous act to step out of your comfort zone. It will be challenging at times, even scary. It may cost you friends, or a certain lifestyle.
But when all is said and done, when you follow your passion, you live a life that is truly yours. And when that happens you’ll find that every sacrifice, every moment of fear, every moment of questioning was worth it.