You people were right, I should've clarified.

[PhotonGuy]

Well anyway, as it is people have pointed out that there is nothing wrong with a student asking a sensei about how the dojo is run

Taking a passion and monetizing works really well for some people. But not everyone. When you monetize something, it becomes an obligation (ie, a job). Personally, the point where a hobby becomes a job is about the time it ceases to be fun.

Not necessarily. There are some people that for them, their jobs are tons of fun. People have literally told me that they get paid for playing.

 

[Zero]

Well anyway, as it is people have pointed out that there is nothing wrong with a student asking a sensei about how the dojo is run

Not necessarily. There are some people that for them, their jobs are tons of fun. People have literally told me that they get paid for playing.

Yes, that's understood. But kind of line with what Steve and DD were saying, it can be nice to have a delineation between "work" and "play". If your work is "playing" you are still essentially doing that for others' gain or benefit, either your employer or you clients/customers. An old mate of mine loved sailing and he sails for Oracle but that is hard work and that is his job and he is doing this, while for himself, also primarily for Oracle. It is they he is ultimately performing for.

Even guys who "play" solely for themselves so they are the only ones that benefit from their performance, such as professional gamblers or competitive fishermen or professional "gamers", ultimately their pay cheque is riding on how they perform. And when you get to that level you probably (hopefully!) have sponsors and endorsements and so you find you are actually performing for others which have a vested (or entirely money-focused) interested never-the-less.

It can be nice to be doing something solely for oneself and not to have a pay cheque riding on it and to have the money component completely removed, martial arts being just such an example. You can go off on tangents and back-waters of interest you may not have the time or be allowed to if that is your "job". I love the martial arts and it is possible I could have continued down the business route in the MA by running my own classes (and probably failed miserably) but I have loved doing MA for myself and it is my time and I never wanted to be doing it for someone else, I enjoy being a student of the MAs and am glad that is separated from my "working" life.

You follow? : )

 

[PhotonGuy]

Yes, that's understood. But kind of line with what Steve and DD were saying, it can be nice to have a delineation between "work" and "play". If your work is "playing" you are still essentially doing that for others' gain or benefit, either your employer or you clients/customers. An old mate of mine loved sailing and he sails for Oracle but that is hard work and that is his job and he is doing this, while for himself, also primarily for Oracle. It is they he is ultimately performing for.

Even guys who "play" solely for themselves so they are the only ones that benefit from their performance, such as professional gamblers or competitive fishermen or professional "gamers", ultimately their pay cheque is riding on how they perform. And when you get to that level you probably (hopefully!) have sponsors and endorsements and so you find you are actually performing for others which have a vested (or entirely money-focused) interested never-the-less.

It can be nice to be doing something solely for oneself and not to have a pay cheque riding on it and to have the money component completely removed, martial arts being just such an example. You can go off on tangents and back-waters of interest you may not have the time or be allowed to if that is your "job". I love the martial arts and it is possible I could have continued down the business route in the MA by running my own classes (and probably failed miserably) but I have loved doing MA for myself and it is my time and I never wanted to be doing it for someone else, I enjoy being a student of the MAs and am glad that is separated from my "working" life.

You follow? : )

Right, I see what you mean. I would just like to point out though that there are people who don't have to work, at least not work for money, they happen to be really wealthy and easily have financial security for the rest of their lives, but they do work full time and overtime because they love their job so much, not because they need the money. But yes, its nice to be doing some stuff just for fun and not have your performance affect any kind of income. I do know what you mean when you do stuff just for fun and not have to worry about how much money you will make doing it because its not the kind of stuff that you make money doing. A good example of that would be going on vacation. I know from my own experience that going on vacation is hard work, its fun but there's lots of work you need to do. However, you don't get paid doing it rather you pay to do to. I was in Epcot down in Orlando this New Years and it was hard work and I had to pay to do it, I had to pay for gas, hotel rooms, Epcot admission, ect. but it was a lot of fun. It was fun enough that I considered it well worth the work and money I had to put forth to do it.

Anyway, how about if you've got a hobby that you can make money doing? I've got a cousin does beekeeping as a hobby. He worked as an electrical engineer as his main job but he was also a beekeeper as something he just did for fun. There are professional beekeepers who do it as a full time job but not him, however he would sell the honey that he would make from he beekeeping. He did beekeeping just on the side as something he enjoyed doing and he was by no means obligated to do it but he was also able to make some extra dollars doing it. If you can make some extra dollars doing a fun hobby, why not?

 

[Steve]

Different things motivate people. You make a good point, PhotonGuy. It's just not a universal truth. Some people are extremely happy doing what they love for money. I'm not built that way. Now, this doesn't mean I don't love my job. I do love it... usually. But as DD said, I have to do it even when I don't love it, because it is an obligation. It is work.

Regarding money, it's not even that. While I have no problems making money through a hobby, as soon as the hobby becomes an obligation for me (money involved or not), it becomes less fun.