It's a tricky and difficult situation, to be found in between the decisions of following/chasing one's passion or relegating it for some means to make a living. For what I can say, effort and labour are required in both cases. The passion you're chasing will require a level of commitment and efforts to reach it—at least to the stage you want. Also, making a living is a laborious effort. From time, it has been so with man, and the pattern isn't stopping. To make a living, there's a labour one will surely play.
While we all have a passion that we follow, the need to make ends meet cannot be neglected. See it the other way round too; that we need to make ends meet and make a living, our passion shouldn't be neglected. Well, that would depend on a person's individual perspective. For what it's worth, passion could be dropped for making a living or making a living could be considered less for passion.
Everyone was born with their passion; which through time got discovered and is constantly or time to time expressed. At such a point, it feels like telling such a person to drop a part of their life, so they can keep their whole life going. When someone has gone deep enough into their passion, making a living can seem less consequential—especially when they know and see that they could make a living from that passion. Now, that's the dilemma involved.
I consider that there are situations that one would need to give up their passion to make a living. Say, a situation of a runner, who for some reasons lost their legs. Knowing that they could get a prosthetic limb and continue in the relevant category, making a living however would seem the first option to go with. I mean, it's who is living that can chase a passion, right? I see a different perspective also, with all things being equal. One that suggests that you follow your passion and make a living out of it. To say, a passion that makes you a living.
They've been situations where people were passionate about something, and ended up using it to make a living. The current technological age has largely made this possible. It boils down sometimes how one could leverage on the opportunities afforded by the age and make that passion turn into a system that makes ends meet. Such has made it possible that passion could be converted into cash. And this is point is one I wish to affirm with; that one could follow their passion and make a living off it. It's not something that will come at once, but holding on to it while engaging in some ends making means can make the passion into cash a reality.
Some passion will not necessarily make a platform to earn from it. Say, I'm one passionate about outreaches and humanitarian services. Such a passion can't be fueled—if I may say—into a making a living system too. But then, these are some of the biggest things to be passionate about in life; and should they be dropped for making a living? It's noteworthy to mention that while I lean towards the following passion and making a living simultaneously, some cases might demand otherwise; making a living before following a passion.
This is my entry for the Afri-Inleo Initiative 45.
Thank you for reading through!