Are we supposed to like our jobs?

I recently started watching a show on Netflix called “Glow Up”. It follows aspiring make up artists as they complete challenges to test their skills- much like Great British Bake Off. The judges are incredible (British TV always gets this right) and I was literally crying/laughing along with them because they were so connected to the makeup. Now, I like makeup as much as the next girl, but I’ve never cried over it before. But these judges loved their craft so much that they literally couldn’t contain their external response to what they were experiencing.

And it got me thinking. What in my life makes me feel that way?

My job? Certainly not.

I really enjoy my DIY projects but I don’t really want to make a career out of it. Photography/Videography? Tried that, it was eh. More of a self passion. I get fired up about politics but do I want to sell my soul to the devil? No thanks. Music? It’s fine. Reading? Yeah, I do love that but not entirely career friendly. People bring me joy, but again, you can’t exactly be a professional best friend.

And when I went to ask my friends if they feel passionate about their jobs, I was shocked that only one said yes. When I polled Instagram? No one said yes. That’s INSANE. That means that the majority of people I know are going through the demands of work without any fulfillment behind it. We spend 1/3 of our day working (assuming you work 8 normal hours which is not the norm anymore. Thank you WFH for the 10pm and Saturday pings and emails). The average person will work 40–50 years of their life. That means you will spend about 13 years of your life at work. I’m not sure that my brain can actually compute spending 13 years doing a loveless thing.

But what’s even more insane is that we’ve all decided this is just the way it is. 5 days of pure exhaustion and draining careers followed by a too-short 2 day weekend to do the chores we were too tired to do post work. And this is coming from someone who gets to work from the comfort of her own home at a job that has flexibility and good pay and benefits. I’m not even at the tip of the icberg of shitty jobs. Now add in working out a few times a week, keeping your pets alive, participating in social events, cooking 3 meals a day, navigating relationships, and gosh, some people have CHILDREN on top of that. How many years of our adult life are we spending on the things that fill us up? Not enough.

Anyway, I’m once again writing a post that has no conclusion or path forward. Just a jumbling of words that I’m hoping to one day sort through and figure out what it is that will make me scream “DING DONG” because I am so fired up about it (seriously, go watch Glow Up it’s so good). Maybe if I can ever exit this vicious cycle of being too mentally exhausted from my job to go find a better job I’ll let you know whats on the other side.