Money date No. 12: What, exactly, is my job?

Easy desserts, sleepless nights and pondering the career ahead

I recently read this post on hobbies at

Culture Study

, and it made me wonder: Do I have any hobbies? What in my life is purely restorative, creative or joyful? My work feels that way much of the time… does that count?

Last week, my partner and I were guests for Division of Labor at

The Purse

. We’re asked to list our jobs, and I said “full-time freelance writer and author, moonlighting political consultant/volunteer.” That’s sort of a mouthful. But as I listed my tasks for the day in question — eight days before the fateful election — a lot of my work was for political consulting and volunteering roles. It would have been weird to call myself a full-time writer, only to describe a day where just a fraction of work hours were spent writing.

Is politics part of my job, or is it a hobby? (And I don’t mean hobby the way people sneer at “political hobbyists,” but hobby in the sense that it’s an occupation I don’t rely on to make a living.) Is it a side hustle? Can you even have a side hustle if you don’t have a full-time job to put it on the side of?

I experience this (uniquely millennial?) panic every few years. Hobbies, it’s said, are what makes life well-rounded and fulfilling. They keep your mind and body healthy. They cultivate community and connection. Work, in this equation, is a necessary evil foist upon us by capitalism. If you seek fulfillment from work, you’re a cold robot and probably delusional.

But I’ve sought my entire career to do work that’s well-rounded and fulfilling, that lets my mind and body grow and rest. I cultivate community among colleagues. I’ve done that because I have to earn income to live comfortably, and I don’t want to sacrifice satisfaction to do it. Have I failed because I don’t also pick up my old flute as often as I could or do yoga as much as I used to?

That’s what’s on my mind this week, as I think about the career path I’m forging with a forthcoming book, a growing newsletter and a big election cycle on my resume. What do I define as “work,” and how much will my work define me in the next season?

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💡 Inspired by a Healthy Rich contributor, a money date is an exercise I crafted for You Don’t Need a Budget. Subscribers can follow along in a private space after the paywall, and I encourage you to steal my questions to guide your own reflections!

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