Passion Vs. Reality: Which Do You Choose?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the following quote from Steve Jobs (as told to his biographer, Walter Isaacson):

“We're always talking about following your passion. But we're all part of the flow of history... And we take things out of that flow that other people have created. And that's why our lives are so great. So you've got to put something back into the flow of history that's going to help your community, help other people, so that 20, 30, 40 years from now, even if it's a small pebble you put back in, people will say, this person didn't just have a passion, he cared about making something that other people could benefit from."

We need money to live—it’s as simple as that. It may be all well and good to be broke at 22 but after that, it’s not ideal. So how can one resolve “doing what you love so you never work a day in your life” (gotta love that one) with also needing a paycheck? And what about giving something back to society? I always used to think it would have been great if I were one of those people who always wanted to be a doctor or always wanted to be a lawyer. But what I wanted to be was a writer. Besides J.K. Rowling and a few others, who makes a living writing?

Is passion alone enough? In this time of record-breaking unemployment, I wonder if instead of focusing on my “passion” and becoming an unsuccessful playwright and then a (fairly) successful TV writer, I had, say, gotten an actual skill, where would I be now? Maybe I would be a computer programmer or an artisan cheesemaker or the founder of Kiva or something. But then again, if I were a cheesemaker, maybe I would have started my own business and it had subsequently gone bust when the housing market crashed and people were no longer buying $30 ounces of cheese. I don’t know.

The conclusion I have come to is that following your passion is fabulous, if your passion happens to be something you can make a living doing. I think I have also realized that passions can be hobbies—and that doesn’t mean you’re a “sell out.” Passions can be something you do outside of work, which is what you need to do to pay your bills. And if you’re lucky, maybe you can figure out a way to make your passion and your work exist in the same plain—organize an ultimate Frisbee team at your office, if Frisbee is your thing. If you’re a budding chef, convince your company that you can cater the next party yourself. Don’t give up! The point is, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. You maybe want to be an artist but no one wants to be starving.