The Thing You Love Doesn’t Need to Look Pretty to Anyone Else But You

Unpopular opinion: I’m happy at my minimum wage job

Photo by MART PRODUCTION

I lived my dream life for a long time. I was working from home and earning money doing what I loved. But no one ever talks about what happens when you suddenly don’t know if you love that thing anymore.

I spent five years enjoying my work, loving the process of being my own boss and controlling my own schedule. I always woke up excited for the day ahead, until one day, I’d thought back to the weeks prior and realized I wasn’t happy anymore. I dreaded getting up from bed. Sitting down to write felt painful.

I found myself escaping into TV shows and fictional books — always a tell-tale sign for me. I felt anxious, burnt out, and bored and on Netflix, I felt everything I wanted to feel: excited, joyful, inspired.

Despite the signs, I did what all the gurus suggested: I said “screw motivation” and pushed through. I’ve done it before, countless times, I can do it again, I thought.

While this is helpful advice that can definitely work, this time, it wasn’t the advice I had to follow. It only pushed me closer to the brink of insanity.

After months, I started thinking that maybe it was time to try something new. At first, I…