An art and a chore

Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life. That's how the phrase goes if I'm right. Upon further pondering about this concept, I was left wondering how true this actually is. I don't have the statistics to prove whether this hypothesis holds any water, however, from my encounters with the work environment and employees it's never that rosy all the time. 

What exactly is it that one loves doing exactly? I'd like to believe that there's something we all are passionate about something that captures our hearts and we seem to lose track of time once we get to do it. You may not know exactly what it is, I believe intuitively it will be along the lines of a media of expression. It could manifest itself through cooking, collection or crafting or whatever form of mental and physical effort one my pour out in order to extend a part of themselves into our plane of reality. 

Once you discover what that is, it invites you into a new realm. A new way of thinking is unlocked you start to think as a collector, or a sportsperson, or a craftsman or whatever else it may be. If you decide to share your pieces with those around you, the feedback is always encouraging, although it may not be what one may want to hear all the time. There's also the joy of community with those who have a common interest with you and the possibilities of collaborating and having peers to bounce ideas off of.

As I write this blog, the title becomes ever more apparent to me, the process of crafting is not always so smooth. At times moving forward happens in a jarring motion, sometimes it feels like you might just come to a complete stop because of how slow you find yourself to be. This may just be momentary affliction or a rut that you can not seem to get out of.

What happens when that which you were once so passionate about starts to become the bane of your existence? It's so terrible to see how what you once loved becomes something you become so blasé about and even worse something you might even end up detesting. The turning point of an art an act of passion becoming a mundane chore is one that plagues a lot of people who venture into creating or producing. Ultimately, it robs us all of what could have been because so many pieces of work never see the light of day because of a loss of momentum. This results in there being a smaller population of workpieces for people to draw inspiration from and less advancements in whatever field that suffering from this drought in ideas.

Is burnout the comet that is going to kill out all creativity inevitably? I believe not, especially if preemptive measures are in place. From my own personal experiences there's this concept I learnt from boxers, shadow boxing. It's basically the boxer preparing for their next fight by envisioning their opponent and creating the scenario in their minds of their rivals fighting style and techniques and taking a fighting stance and actually exchanging blows with the shadow of their opponent. The thing about this technique is what sets it apart from just throwing punches in the air aimlessly is the vision of the boxer as they spar  with another person that isn't there. The fact that each punch is being purposely thrown likely results in the boxer staying engaged in their preparation for the fight as compared to a few jabs and hooks just being thrown into the air. The main distinction is focus and intentionality that's behind shadow boxing. Not being reminded of your vision or why you started ca often make you dread the journey because you can't see the progress you made clearly, neither can you see how close you are to your destination. So it is significant to take time to revise what your trajectory and intention is at each step of the way. 

Working can start to feel lifeless when that all you are doing is working. When you are not learning anything new or tickling your curiosity, there starts to be a plateau in the amount of satisfaction in your work. That invites tedium and before you know it you are stifled and unable to put in any more meaningful and productive hours into your work. A remedy for this is to always seek to refine and redefine your methods. Think about when you started and you were finding your footing there was a lot of learning and getting things wrong and success along the way. Just like in an RPG unless you upgrade your stats and you boost your attributes you'll find yourself on the same level losing to the same bosses and eventually rage quitting. To maintain a pulse to your lifeline of passion it's necessary to experiences the dips of failure and the highs of achievements as you try to learn new skills. 

I very much feel that as I type this out this blog will also serve as a note to my future self who will probably go through times where I can barely put a sentence together. I know I have not exhausted everything that could lead to a disheartening towards the things we love to do. The bottom-line is this  a chore is a chore and an art is an art the moment the bounds between the two start to blur just pause for a bit to check yourself and see if you're thoughtfully putting in your efforts and what ways can you grow yourself.