The Balancing Act

Last night, after I sent off another bunch of recipes and photos, I had a little pinch-me moment. I'm actually earning money doing something I love. I sat down on the couch to finish off a hat I'd begun earlier that day and it hit me again - I'm creating a business, albeit a tiny-incy-micro one, doing something I adore.

And this was all at the end of a week in which I returned to my day job after a nice little long-service sabbatical. (Oh, boy, didn't that fly!) And there it was again. I've long held a notion that I'd like to live my life with a variety of 'jobs', using different skills and surviving on a multiple stream of income, rather than throwing all my energies into climbing a single career ladder. These are early days, and nothing's in stone yet, but it's starting to come true.

But there's a side effect when something you love becomes something you do for work. For as much as I am loving cooking and knitting, taking photos, and knitting some more, a part of me has lost the love for it all. I can't remember when I last wandered into the kitchen to bake something just because. Now it's all, "Could this become a recipe? Should I write it down and photograph it just in case? How could I adapt this to make it more family friendly?" I walked past my cookbook collection the other day and it was like I had just noticed it was there. Oh, that's right, there are books!!!! That I can cook from!!! Just because!!!

As for knitting, this time last year I was whipping up hats and cardigans and jumpers and leg warmers for my babies and my friends and my friends' babies.  Good grief, I think I may have even knitted something for myself! There was a time not so long ago that if you knew me and you had recently given birth, a handknit would arrive wrapped and ready to wear. My Ravelry page was being updated on a fortnightly basis, it seemed, with new projects! This year that's just a fantasy - even my own girls are wearing Target hoodies, poor deprived little urchins, because every waking knitting moment is taken up with the hats. THE HATS!!!!!

Oh, my goodness, my own children don't even have hats for this winter...

The eternal balancing act. I'm not talking about the work/life juggle - I gave up on that one a long time ago. I'm talking about the serious/fun balance. The because-I-have-to/just-because balance. 

So tell me, when a hobby becomes work, admittedly wonderful, delightful, oh-so-grateful-for work, how do you keep the love alive? And where do you squeeze in time for the just-because?