There’s been a thundering wave of activity on social media buzzing about whether it’s worth it to pursue your passion at all costs.

The argument is you only have one life and if you don’t go for it, it’ll be one full of regret. Give everything up and follow your dreams!

I appreciate John Scalzi’s rebuttal to this activity on his Twitter account. Summary: He did his art on the side and only switched over to writing full time when it made financial sense.

It’s taken many years for me to get over the grass is greener on the other side kind of thinking. There was always this nagging feeling whatever I was doing now wasn’t living up to my full potential.

However, I was only looking at the potential/passion portion in a very limited way. It was always looked upon as whether I was succeeding with my art, which is only one area I love.

My primary focus is to be a present parent and spouse to my family. Then it’s to my students to ensure they are getting the best of what I can offer.

Writing is something I do in the margins of time I have between those duties. It may only be a few minutes here or there, but I feel privileged to even have the time to work on it.

I sacrifice other leisure time activities such as watching tv, playing video games or getting sucked into the algorithms of social media that keep you locked in for hours at a time, but I get to do it.

Perhaps one day down the road more time will open up, but this is my current situation and I’m happy to work with it.

To tell someone to sacrifice everything is not understanding that passion isn’t something you follow, but something you develop. Things that look nice that you want to do are called interests.

They may start in the margins and work their way to the centre, but there should be no shame about it.

I do make time for my art and I am passionate about it. Therefore, from my perspective, I am pursuing my passion.

Even if it’s only in the margins.