If you were asked to sort various the parts of your life under the categories of ‘hobby’, ‘job’ ‘career’ or ‘vocation’, what words would fill each space? What would you find in the intersecting areas?
There’s a video on Youtube of writer Elizabeth Gilbert speaking on this subject that I visit from time to time. In it, she breaks down the differences between these four words that are often conflated — hobby, job, career and vocation. Prior to watching, I had never seen this subject so swiftly and artfully explained.
Gilbert is a wildly successful writer. With a unique ability to connect to her many readers and fans, she is frequently asked for advice on leading a creative life. She even wrote a book devoted to the subject, Big Magic.
Throughout her career, Gilbert has been a huge proponent of creativity for creativity’s sake. She has argued that everyone is innately creative on some level — it’s part of who we are as a species. Although Gilbert has reached soaring heights in her own career, she doesn’t believe that everyone needs to turn their creative interests into a job. In Gilbert’s view, to insist that our creativity also pay our bills, is too much to ask of it.
For those like myself who have chosen a creative career path, I find her words reassuring. Our professional lives are often unpredictable. While the conditions of our careers are subject to change, the reason why we started — our love of the work — remains.
Here’s a summary of the aforementioned four words, defined by Gilbert. I also recommend watching the full video (it’s under 10 minutes).
HOBBY
“A hobby is something that you do purely for pleasure … Here's the wonderful thing about a hobby. The stakes are zero … You don't have to make money from your hobby. You don't have to get famous from your hobby. Nobody has to know anything about your hobby … You do not have to have a hobby. It is not required, but it’s a nice thing to have. It makes you feel like your life is just not about the grind.”
JOB
“The only thing that you actually do have to have is a job. You have to pay the bills … I never resented having a job because having a job was the way that I kept the contract of taking care of myself as a mature adult in the world, being reasonable, being rational, being able to pay my bills, being able to not be a burden on other people, not waiting for someone to come along and save me … Just taking care of myself, providing for myself.
Here's the great thing about a job — it doesn't have to be awesome. It doesn't have to fulfill you. It doesn't have to be joyful. It just has to pay. That's it. I've had so many jobs that I didn't love … Whatever! You go and do it, you give them the thing that you're giving them and you take the money in return. That's the exchange … If it's killing you, if it's toxic, if you're being abused and manipulated, if it's terrible — if you can get out of it, and if you get a better job — do it. But just recognize your job doesn't have to be your whole life.”
CAREER
“A career is a job that you are passionate about and that you love right now. A career is something where you're willing to make sacrifices. You're willing to work extra hours. You're willing to put your life on the line for this thing because you believe in the mission of what your career is. If you're in a career right now that you hate, that's terrible. If you're in a job that you hate, that's okay [laughs] ... If you're in a career that you can't stand, my suggestion is that you quit that career and just go get a job. Just go get a regular job to pay the bills so you can do other things … You should love your career or not have one. That's completely how I feel about careers. Not necessary. But if you have one, make sure you love it. Otherwise, there's no point. You're just grinding yourself out for nothing.”
VOCATION
“The holiest, most sacred, most amazing and mystical pursuit of all — vocation. A vocation is a calling. A vocation is a divine invitation. A vocation is the voice of the universe in your ear saying, ‘I want you to do this thing. I want to use your talents and gifts to make this thing. I want you to participate in the story of creation in this way’ … We are participants within creation. This is your piece of it — that's your vocation. It comes from the Latin [word meaning] ‘a calling’, ‘to be called’ … A vocation is the highest possible pursuit that you can do. Here's the amazing thing about having a vocation … Nobody can give it to you, and nobody can take it from you. Somebody can take your job away from you. Somebody can take your career away from you. Nobody can take your vocation away from you”.
In reflection, I created an illustration — an attempt to further distill Gilbert’s definitions of each word — hobby, job, career and vocation.
