If you love what you do, why would you ever stop?
What does retirement look like for you? Is that a thing you think about?
My husband, Mike, and I recently got the opportunity to see The Verve Pipe and Toad the Wet Sprocket in concert at a small venue on a college campus.
Both bands were incredible! But one of the things that stuck with me as I watched Brian Vander Ark on stage was this: That’s a man who loves what he does and does what he loves.
Everyone knows that being an artist can be difficult, especially if you hope to make a living at it.
Brian writes on his personal blog that he’ll never retire. And I feel that.
During a recent conversation, Mike and I discussed what retirement might look like. For me, I’ll write more frequently in “retirement”, not less.
Currently, I’m working a bit more as a CPA, the thing I studied in college, and the thing that currently puts more money in my retirement accounts than the writing does.
This wasn’t always the case. Writing, once upon a time, put quite a bit of money in my savings. But I worked way harder at it, and spent a great deal more time, than I find myself working at the CPA gig. (My CPA friends will find that hard to believe, but it’s 100% true.)
Currently, my “work”—the CPA gig—is working for me. I love my schedule. I enjoy the people I work with. I’m doing meaningful work, and I’m serving people in a way.
But my writing will always be the thing I come home to. And like Brian Vander Ark and the music he creates, I will probably never retire from writing. I’ll always return to the written word.
If you love what you do, why would you ever stop?
If you enjoyed this, do me a favor and hit the ❤️ button. And don’t forget to subscribe.
Thanks for reading. This newsletter is a consistently inconsistent publication of my thoughts because I basically gave up contributing to social media. The closest I get to publishing shorter messages is in Notes.
If you enjoy my thoughts and want to encourage more writing, you can do one or all of the following: leave a comment and join in the discussion, buy my books or become a paid subscriber (you can also subscribe for free, and I welcome it).
I want to send out a special “Thank you” to recent paid subscribers. Y’all are the best! If you ever want me to talk about something specific in this space, all you have to do is ask.