Earlier this week, I received an email from a reader who’s at a crossroads in her creative path. She had recently followed her heart’s calling and started publishing her writing online. And while she’s thoroughly enjoying the writing process itself, she’s paralyzed by the confusion of what to do next.

To capitalize on a creative hobby that brings her joy?

Or to keep it for what it is, a soulful conduit for radical self-expression?

“But even though I thoroughly enjoy writing, there are moments when I feel completely lost and wonder where is my writing taking me. Is it okay to feel this way? I never knew that I could be a writer. But now when I do, I feel I belong here, in the world of words. But which direction will it take leaves me demotivated at times; I don't know if I should make it my career or only pursue it as a hobby.”

While these are her exact words, it baffles me how I too was in her exact same situation less than a year ago. I too was at the notorious crossroads between hobby and hustle, deliberating which path I must take.

This makes me wonder: How many of us struggle with this pressure to turn our creative hobbies into money-making side hustles?

The Modern Trap of Turning Hobbies Into Hustles

We live in an era of side hustles. In 2019, more than 57 million Americans turned to freelance work and side hustles to complement their incomes, which represents about 35 per cent of the total workforce.

This has planted a quick-sprouting seed in our fragile minds that we must be constantly pushing ourselves to do more and achieve more. That we must leverage whatever it is that brings us joy, whatever it is we’re passionate about, whatever it is we’re good at and turn that major intersection into a money-making career or business.

This, of course, is a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because there has been no easier period in human history to transform a creative skill into a thriving online business. And yet, a curse, for it has slowly conditioned us to look at any creative skill through the narrow green-tinted lens of monetization.

It’s a curse because it’s now led to this kind of thinking: If you enjoy writing and you’re good at it, but you’re not using that skill to progress toward some big monetary achievement, then you’re wasting your time and talent.

But how toxic is that thinking?

What if I enjoy writing becomes it moves my soul? What if I enjoy writing because it helps me think clearly and better process my emotions? What if I enjoy writing because it connects me with readers from around the world and fuels me with a sense of meaning, knowing that my words are helping others?

So here I am voicing, loud and clear, what has been dimmed by the bragging hustlers: You can do something you love, just because you love it.

You don’t have to monetize your joy. You don’t have to monetize your creative skills, interests, or passions. You can simply do them because they open your heart, transcend your imagination, bring you joy, and make you feel alive.

Of course, that’s not to say that there’s no joy to be found in turning something you’re passionate about or you’re skilled at into a business. I wholeheartedly believe that launching and growing your own business is the ultimate personal growth and development journey you can experience.

But it’s also okay to love a hobby for what it is (without any expectation that it should help you pay the bills): An extension of who you are and a dedicated playful practice that enriches your life and connects you to your soul.

Hobbies, alone, are worthy and enough. They bring you joy and tone-up your skillset. You don’t need to infuse it with any other greater purpose.

If You Choose to Turn a Hobby into a Hustle, Beware of The Downsides

Although side businesses are a great way to earn extra income, they require a tremendous time and energy commitment. Building a business is not easy, it demands a different version of you to show up.

A side hustle isn’t simply an extension of your personal interests accompanied by paid benefits. A side hustle becomes work, an exchange of giving and taking. And what begins as a practice for creative expression and personal freedom of exploration, slowly transitions into rigid systems and well-defined expectations.

You suddenly shift from full autonomy of practice to prioritizing profits and client requests above all else. And when things start to click, you become more inclined to stick to what works, thus sacrificing the freedom to experiment because experimenting risks the bottom line.

But isn’t exploring and developing your own craft to your own will, a large part of what makes hobbies immensely fulfilling? Creative hobbies are absolutely essential for our mental and emotional well-being. They allow us to step into a new calming and fulfilling realm, away from the stressors of life.

Turning every hobby, then, into another form of work-related responsibility will have the opposite effect, don’t you think? By removing this innate human pillar that facilitates a work-life balance, we would be much more prone to experiencing burnout, anxiety, and other health-related problems.

So What Should You Do? Ask Yourself This One Question

Exactly a year ago, I was sitting in my room lost in contemplation and oscillating in thought. It had been six months since my primary source of income—an e-commerce store I had built over the prior year—lost more than 70% of its sales, and I no longer had the financial capacity to further invest in it and grow it.

But within that same time frame, my writing had exploded.

It was becoming clear to me that I’m good at this skill of writing, and I genuinely enjoy it, but I wasn’t sure in which direction to take it. Do I keep it as a hobby, or do I transform it into a money-making career or business? If I choose the latter, then what business should I build? Do I offer coaching packages and teach people how to write? Or do I seek clients and offer freelancing services?

This inner dispute prolonged for months and it absolutely drained me. But life has taught me that the best way to find out how you truly feel about something is to give it a try.

As soon as I gave coaching a shot, I instantly realized I wasn’t ready for it, or interested in it. And as soon as I tried freelancing, I declined the first offer I received from a client I had pitched. Something just didn’t feel right inside.

It was then and there that it became very clear to me as to why I had been so lost and demotivated: I was searching for a way to monetize my skill set, at a time when the only reason I practised it in the first place, was because of the freedom it created for me to roam through that free-flowing creative world. I was doing it for me. And no money in the world would have motivated me to write.

That is how I learned that while I’m good at this skill, and while I absolutely love it, writing is not a means for me to make money. Why? Because the financial gain is not my ultimate pursuit. Writing, at least for now, is my free creative hobby. It’s how I stay sane and make sense of life. It helps me recharge.

It’s also an extension of my purpose—to show up every week, publish an article, and send it to my reading community.

And that, in and of itself, fulfils me.

As I continue to grow and master that skill, sure, perhaps in the future I might consider, what else do I want to do with my writing? If I’m an expert in a domain and a publication comes in asking me to write for them, then sure, why not? If my authority grows and more people begin reaching out asking me how to start an online blog, then sure, why now? I can share my knowledge and charge for it.

But for now, I urge you—do what feels right for you. Just because you’re good at something and you love doing it, doesn’t mean you should slap a price on it and sell it. Unless, of course, financial gain is your ultimate pursuit.

I’d rather you pause to shun out the noise and deeply contemplate this one question: What am I excited to learn more about?

You won’t have the answers right way, but when you turn down the heat and let it sit and simmer, the signs will come to you as smoothly as waves flow to shore.

It took me a while to finally realize that neither the freelancing process nor the coaching process excited me. What was I really excited about? Going deeper into the worlds of poetry and philosophy.

In Short: Be The Butterfly, Don’t Pin it

A dear friend of mine recently started framing her photographers and selling them online. She’s an amateur photographer who captures moments in time within the city of Beirut and shares them on Instagram. Her hobby is slowly meddling with the waters of a side hustle.

She’s enjoying the process and she’s learning a lot: How to price products, how to up-sell and bundle, and how to organize her finances.

But wherever this new “sidle hustle” might take her, that’s not the point. What matters most is that she’s not trading her love for her craft for the short-term materialistic joy of financial gain. Rather, she’s drinking from the nourishing well of intrinsic motivation. She’s simply stretching the space of self-expression, honing her craft, and further exploring the journey it can transcend her to.

The way I see it, she’s living like a butterfly, and we creatives need to be more like butterflies. For what is a butterfly but a spirit that finds joy in playfulness and the lightness of being?

A butterfly transforms through different life cycles, always exploring her many different colours, and freely expressing herself through them. While birds usually follow a linear path when flying, the butterfly is more erratic. She makes constant changes, without anyone ever knowing what her next move may be.

The butterfly is the symbol of creative freedom.

Be the butterfly, don’t pin it.