When your passion turns into a job, don’t freak out.

Thank the stars you were so lucky.

Photo by Yayo Lopez. Makeup and hair by me. Cusco, Peru

When you don’t love your work, the days are endless and the air is heavy when you think of what more has to be done. But when your work is something you love doing, it’s easier and more enjoyable.

Everyone knows that.

But then there are those unfortunate times when your passion turns into a “job” and you just aren’t that happy with it anymore.

I worked as a makeup artist for ten years. Eighty percent of my work was not creative and quite uninspiring. The best part of those jobs was seeing my friends; the crew, the catering, the hairdressers, the costume fitters, the models, the art director, the actors...

Sure, I also had creative work that fueled me and made me feel like I was doing the right thing. But it still, in general, all felt like a “job.” I use quotes for the word job because at some point it started to carry this heavy feeling of negativity. I hated that.

Seven years ago I said to myself; There is no way that in five or ten years I am still going to be waking up at dawn to go and dry sweat on actors for a milk commercial. Maybe if I had more creative editorials that paid well (they usually didn’t) I could stop doing butter commercials. But I had to eat.

Photo by Jacques Ferrand. Makeup and hair by me. Lima, Peru

I have a friend who has many passions. All of them are his work. He is a film and advertising director, and Art Director, and a musician. He is every single one of those things, all the time.

When people follow all their passions and spend all their time following their dreams and ideas, the dreaded “job” simply starts to fade. Who doesn’t want to make money from what they love? I’m sure I do.

I have never worked inside an office.
I can’t even imagine what that would be like.
I make my own office, in my backpack.

I don’t make money from makeup anymore. I never really made much money doing that anyway. I might be making more money now that I write and design as a digital nomad. Not exactly sure, makeup jobs were never paid on time.

One thing I know is that as soon as my writing or my design work starts to feel like a “job,” I switch things up. I let go of jobs that don’t inspire me and I look for new opportunities to grow in different areas.

Taking courses is part of my passion for the work I do and a great way to keep things moving and interesting. Always trying to learn more, know more, be better, get better.

If your passion has turned into a job, find a way to love that mix. It’s a true godsend. Not everyone has that luxury

Ikigai

We can take a cue from the Japanese belief of Ikigai. That sweet spot where everything in life meets in perfect unison. Everyone has their own Ikigai, depending on different aspects of their lives.

I think I’m still trying the pinpoint my Ikigai but I think I’m pretty close. I also think it changes as we change with time.

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Please leave me a clap if you liked my little rant! Much appreciated.