On Burning Out While Doing What You Love
The topic of “do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life” has been popping up on my Twitter timeline again lately.
Burnout doesn't necessarily come from “doing what you love” — it can come from the things that are tangentially related to doing what you love. Like unrealistic demands being made of your time.
Or never being set up for success on the projects you're given.
Or getting credit for your ideas stolen over and over again.
Or working with/for assholes, who rend your faith in humanity in twain.
Even if you love what you do, it can end up wrapped in the myriad papercuts, abuses, and indignities that can come from “doing work in exchange for money” — something that most of us have to do, whether we love it or not.
Whether or not you love what you do has nothing to do with that. A job is a job, and if you're lucky enough to be doing a thing you enjoy in a supportive environment with kind people, that's great. But it's pretty far from being a universal experience, so maybe check yourself before barfing such facile nonsense all over the internet.