Where do people get the money to pursue their passions?
I have come across numerous times where people are discussing the pursuit of their passion. Be it in talks, books, videos, or in person. One thought that always comes up in my mind is how can they afford to do that. Well, another thought is discovering passion in general, but I will leave that to another post. Where does the money come from?
It seems like a very select group has the privilege to be able to pursue their passion. Do they not have credit card bills or loans that they must pay. Do they not have a cell phone bill or insurance? Did they inherit a ton of money? Do they not have other obligations that suck the money out of their accounts? This has always baffled me. For example, in the book The Happiness of Pursuit, there are a bunch of stories where people are on “quests”. They are traveling to see every country or biking the whole of North/South America or trying to see as many bird species as they can. In the book they do not address the elephant in the room. How did these people afford to go on these “quests”? Did they save up for 20 years? Do they not have jobs to report to? Did they win the lottery? How do they pay the day-to-day costs? If anyone has an answer, please let me know.
I wish I had the luxury to just up and quit my life to pursue something I love like traveling or playing D&D. That would be the dream, but I would not be able to afford it. I have too many bills to take care of. Thousands of dollars a month right now is attacking my monthly income. I have student and personal loans. I have internet and a phone to pay for. I must pay for a place to live. I have credit cards. These are not cheap, and it will be a long time before I would be able to be flexible with my daily life. This is the new dream though, isn’t it? Financial freedom. Not owning a bunch of things but not being tied to a day-to-day job. That is the goal.