Finding Balance

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I don't buy into that "sex and cash" theory AT ALL. I know too many people who make a living doing what they love; dichotomizing it is simplistic binary bullshit.

My last career change, I asked myself, what do I love doing so much that I think about it all the time and have been doing it in my spare time whenever I have a chance for years? The answer was, glass. So I spent the next ten years immersed in glass. Everything was about glass, not 40 hours a week, but probably over 90 hours a week. When the market tanked and I started to burn out (not on the glass, but on the discouragement) I realized I needed to do something else, at first I was going to go to school for chemistry, because so much of what I know about glass is chemistry and I could maybe get a job as a batch chemist. But then I asked myself, what do I geek out about in my spare time? What do I fucking love so much that I read about it even though it has minimal practical application in my life? What's the thing that my friends think I'm fucking weird for being so into? Oh goddamn right, irrational human behavior and how it impacts the spread of dysfunction and disease!

And you disgusting freaks will never, ever stop doing shit that is completely contrary to your own best interests, so there will ALWAYS be new and novel horrible things to try to wrap my head around. I've never been so excited about anything in my life, except maybe really good sushi.

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

I don't buy into that "sex and cash" theory AT ALL. I know too many people who make a living doing what they love; dichotomizing it is simplistic binary bullshit.

My last career change, I asked myself, what do I love doing so much that I think about it all the time and have been doing it in my spare time whenever I have a chance for years? The answer was, glass. So I spent the next ten years immersed in glass. Everything was about glass, not 40 hours a week, but probably over 90 hours a week. When the market tanked and I started to burn out (not on the glass, but on the discouragement) I realized I needed to do something else, at first I was going to go to school for chemistry, because so much of what I know about glass is chemistry and I could maybe get a job as a batch chemist. But then I asked myself, what do I geek out about in my spare time? What do I fucking love so much that I read about it even though it has minimal practical application in my life? What's the thing that my friends think I'm fucking weird for being so into? Oh goddamn right, irrational human behavior and how it impacts the spread of dysfunction and disease!

And you disgusting freaks will never, ever stop doing shit that is completely contrary to your own best interests, so there will ALWAYS be new and novel horrible things to try to wrap my head around. I've never been so excited about anything in my life, except maybe really good sushi.

I like this. A lot.

And I know some people who just do art, or music, or whatever. No day job waiting tables. Nigel has the correct motorcycle AGAIN.

Just because not everyone has found a way to do it doesn't mean it's impossible.

[Kai]

That's a really good point. I was trying to think about the rare few who have jobs doing what they love-- and you nailed it. Even when I have an entire day to write, mix, or play music- which are things I can lose myself in for hours- it isn't self-sustainable. I have to walk away at a certain point. Even passions have their limits.

It's not sustainable. Even if you are able to do it and not burn out, that's probably because you have an obsession. And obsessions generally lead to worse things than burn out; I can recover from burn out with some rest, but not so easily from the inevitable psychological addiction within extended obsession.

Wait, are you guys talking about something more than just simple exhaustion? I can understand getting worn out from doing a lot of what you love, just because any activity consumes energy, but as far as getting to a point where you don't want to do it any more (temporarily) - not sure I'm with you on that.
Does that mean I'm obsessed?

More than simple exhaustion, yes. If you've ever experienced burnout, you get the general idea. The human mind seeks novelty. Doing the same things over and over, no matter how much your initial passion, will throw a wrench in the system until it breaks, either in the form of burnout, or in the form of obsession. In the latter case, that novelty seeking reward gets switched to a circular feedback rewarding the obsession. Ever heard Yudowsky talk about having your mind reprogrammed so that you like to do something that would otherwise bore you? That's pretty much it, except without the transhumanist tech.

Or, conversely, I could be full of it.

[Kai]

A lot of this sounds like the Sex and Cash theory I read a few years ago.

To be clear, I'm not advocating "sex and cash". I certainly will not be doing that the next four years.

[Placid Dingo]

A lot of this sounds like the Sex and Cash theory I read a few years ago.

That's fucking scary.

If I took a shit job, all anybody wants you for here is nights.

And nights are when I make money.

FUCK.

Scary why? What's the problem with timing?

I get a lot of calls at night compared to daytime.

If I took a regular job, I'd lose customers.

It's an "either/or thing", not a "both".

I'm guessing you're talking about the impact of taking on conventional work on top of your current creative work?

I'm really sorry Spags (if that a good shorthand for your handle?), but I'm not familiar with the context here, of what you do, what the calls are for etc. Could you fill me in?

[Don Coyote]

I think she is a phone cartomancer.

[Placid Dingo]

That's a really good point. I was trying to think about the rare few who have jobs doing what they love-- and you nailed it. Even when I have an entire day to write, mix, or play music- which are things I can lose myself in for hours- it isn't self-sustainable. I have to walk away at a certain point. Even passions have their limits.

It's not sustainable. Even if you are able to do it and not burn out, that's probably because you have an obsession. And obsessions generally lead to worse things than burn out; I can recover from burn out with some rest, but not so easily from the inevitable psychological addiction within extended obsession.

Wait, are you guys talking about something more than just simple exhaustion? I can understand getting worn out from doing a lot of what you love, just because any activity consumes energy, but as far as getting to a point where you don't want to do it any more (temporarily) - not sure I'm with you on that.
Does that mean I'm obsessed?

More than simple exhaustion, yes. If you've ever experienced burnout, you get the general idea. The human mind seeks novelty. Doing the same things over and over, no matter how much your initial passion, will throw a wrench in the system until it breaks, either in the form of burnout, or in the form of obsession. In the latter case, that novelty seeking reward gets switched to a circular feedback rewarding the obsession. Ever heard Yudowsky talk about having your mind reprogrammed so that you like to do something that would otherwise bore you? That's pretty much it, except without the transhumanist tech.

Or, conversely, I could be full of it.

I write shittonnes, and it's how I want to ultimately make my coin. I know though, I need to take breaks from it because otherwise, it's just not fun, and I need to take a few weeks away from it.

[Placid Dingo]

I think she is a phone cartomancer.

!

On top of that being cool, I have learned a new word.

[Placid Dingo]

I don't buy into that "sex and cash" theory AT ALL. I know too many people who make a living doing what they love; dichotomizing it is simplistic binary bullshit.

This is interesting. I might reevaluate the way I've thought around a few things.

[Don Coyote]

I think she is a phone cartomancer.

!

On top of that being cool, I have learned a new word.

For some reason, it makes my day that cartomancer is new to you.

[Placid Dingo]

I think she is a phone cartomancer.

!

On top of that being cool, I have learned a new word.

For some reason, it makes my day that cartomancer is new to you.

Oh it's not.

But I was all like WTF is a 'phone'?

[Don Coyote]

I think she is a phone cartomancer.

!

On top of that being cool, I have learned a new word.

For some reason, it makes my day that cartomancer is new to you.

Oh it's not.

But I was all like WTF is a 'phone'?

FUCKING UPSIDEDOWN PEOPLE!!!!!!!!

[Anna Mae Bollocks]

A lot of this sounds like the Sex and Cash theory I read a few years ago.

That's fucking scary.

If I took a shit job, all anybody wants you for here is nights.

And nights are when I make money.

FUCK.

Scary why? What's the problem with timing?

I get a lot of calls at night compared to daytime.

If I took a regular job, I'd lose customers.

It's an "either/or thing", not a "both".

I'm guessing you're talking about the impact of taking on conventional work on top of your current creative work?

I'm really sorry Spags (if that a good shorthand for your handle?), but I'm not familiar with the context here, of what you do, what the calls are for etc. Could you fill me in?

Spags works.

I'm on a couple of those psychic phone lines. I read cards. I always liked cards, I get to work from home or wherever I happen to be, and if I need an occasional night off I don't have to listen to any ass-chewing. Sometimes the money is decent and sometimes it sucks.

If I lived in the city, I could grab some kind of little office gig in the daytime, I could work psychic fairs, there would be a lot of little things to supplement my income. But there's nothing available in the town where I live but retail and factory work and everybody wants days, they have kids, they want to go out at night, etc. If I was off the phone lines, say, five nights a week, all my regulars would drift away and start calling somebody else.

The obvious solution is to move someplace that doesn't suck (Austin comes to mind, I can walk around there without the yahoos looking at me like a turd in a punchbowl) but I can never *quite* get the cash together to pull this off. So I'm kind of hanging fire and plotting my escape. It'll come, I just don't know when or how yet.

[Epimetheus]

throw a wrench in the system until it breaks, either in the form of burnout, or in the form of obsession. In the latter case, that novelty seeking reward gets switched to a circular feedback rewarding the obsession. Ever heard Yudowsky talk about having your mind reprogrammed so that you like to do something that would otherwise bore you? That's pretty much it, except without the transhumanist tech.

Or, conversely, I could be full of it.

It's interesting... You've phrased something negatively that I think of as a positive shift in perspective. Recently, I've been seeing things more and more as boundless, every day, event, and person completely unique. This helps me enjoy my otherwise repetitive job, school, and etc. I don't, however, feel that this is a delusion cast over the boring reality. I feel that I'm seeing it the way it really is.

Secondly, the creative activities ("arts") I enjoy inherently demand/involve constant newness/innovation, so to take part in them every moment of every day can never get old.
Now apply this fact about art, to everyday life. That's how I've been seeing it.

Or, conversely, I could be full of it.

[P3nT4gR4m]

It's interesting... You've phrased something negatively that I think of as a positive shift in perspective. Recently, I've been seeing things more and more as boundless, every day, event, and person completely unique. This helps me enjoy my otherwise repetitive job, school, and etc. I don't, however, feel that this is a delusion cast over the boring reality. I feel that I'm seeing it the way it really is.

Secondly, the creative activities ("arts") I enjoy inherently demand/involve constant newness/innovation, so to take part in them every moment of every day can never get old.
Now apply this fact about art, to everyday life. That's how I've been seeing it.

Or, conversely, I could be full of it.

Disagree, but it's only a slight distinction. You can't see reality the way it is but, if you accept this, then it becomes a matter of choosing to see it however suits. Yeah, sure, Don Quixote and the barstool applies but there's a lot of wiggle room in there. Lot of people seem to be really down about "the way things are" and what they're really talking about is their impression or opinion of the way things are.

My problem (if you want to call it that) is I never really found anything I'd rather be doing. So I looked at what I was good at - talking to computers. And I got a job doing that. Because I'm mindfuckingly good at talking to computers. It's an easy life but it's boring as shit. So my working week is usually split into an hour or so working my silicon alchemy and 38 hours, bored out my skull, surfing the net and dreaming about being out in the wilderness with my kayak.

It was when I realised this that the road ahead got a bit clearer - how about 38 hours a week, out in the wilderness with my kayak and maybe an hour or so reminiscing about talking to computers and how boring my life was back then. There's folks pay top dollar for a good tourguide/coach and, short of gaining a few certificates and shit, I'm already there. It'll take me a couple of years to get the papers, in the meantime I can coast by, making the most of the boring shit and counting down the days.