Following your dream/passion

So, I've been wanting to work in wedding industry for a while - either as a florist or couturist - but been hesitating for a long time. I have no relevant skills (studied science and working in financial industry) and was too scared to take steps. Until now.

Not saying that I've opened up a florist or wedding boutique. I just decided to pursue floristry as a hobby to begin with. Attended a few flower courses - making bouquets, flower crowns etc - to learn the basics and today, I made my own bouquet for the first time all on my own. It was a lot more work than I thought - getting up early to go to flower market, preparing flowers (de-thorning etc) and designing the bouquet. But…

It. Was. So. Worth. It.

I am really happy with my effort today and would love to continue pursuing floristry (at least as a hobby at this point). I was so burnt out with life recently. I have no passion for my current role at work. Everyday has been boring routine. Precious weekend was spent in bed due to fatigue and stress, fueling laziness. I am loving this feeling of I can do something I enjoy for a change.

What about you guys? Have you been taking small steps to chase your dream and passion? Yes, I am feeling all warm and fuzzy at the moment lol

I made my major hobby - programming/computer science - to my job and my studied profession - mathematics - to my hobby. Life is fun!

Interesting topic :-). My wife wanted to become a florist before start of career, but didn't get a job there. To my knowledge, at least as for Germany it is amongst the least paid jobs here btw. but this topic is not about money I guess… I am following dreams and passions after work. Which is usually something between music, music production/clarinet playing/both, interest in cryptography related stuff in IT, coding in ArmA, me, my wife, my dog, nature. It's not one big goal, but rather the small things which I really enjoy and need.

I'm a bit diveded on the topic of making a career out of a passion, but that's probably due to my basically anarchist self :/.

While I'm really happy for every person who can do it, I absolutely hate to HAVE to do stuff. The moment I feel forced to do something, I start to hate it, so for me, pretty much any career would have been the same - go to work to feed your family, hate every moment of it, get back home and feel good for being home and NOT having to work.

As for following my passion(s) in form a of a career… well, a friend (who had done it himself) tried to persuade me to do it as well. He nagged so much that I finally gave in and did it (although just as side work). But the moment the contracts were there and I HAD to do the stuff I loved, I started to resent it, so after I had fulfilled all the contracts I went back to doing the stuff just when I actually felt like doing it, and that felt a lot better .
Did I mention that I hate to be forced to do stuff ?

I'm too old to become a pro gamer nowadays, but I'm pretty sure I would have hated that as well had I tried to do that back in the days. Gaming is undoubtedly my biggest - and unhealthiest - passion, but HAVING to do it for a living…

Purple: You bouquet is beautiful.

Good thing you do not HAVE to do stuff around here

I made my hobby (electronics) into a study and after completing the study started a career as programmer. Never had, nor tried to find, a job in electronics. I just stumbled into things. Like I went from programmer to architect to project manager. It all happened quite naturally, but can say that I am happy doing what I am doing now. I don't regret not ever getting a job as an electronics designer. Even though at the time it was my passion.

Originally Posted by HiddenX
I made my major hobby - programming/computer science - to my job and my studied profession - mathematics - to my hobby. Life is fun!

Funny how things work out sometimes

Originally Posted by yllaettaevaet
Interesting topic :-). My wife wanted to become a florist before start of career, but didn't get a job there. To my knowledge, at least as for Germany it is amongst the least paid jobs here btw. but this topic is not about money I guess… I am following dreams and passions after work. Which is usually something between music, music production/clarinet playing/both, interest in cryptography related stuff in IT, coding in ArmA, me, my wife, my dog, nature. It's not one big goal, but rather the small things which I really enjoy and need.

It is also one of the lowest paid profession here in Australia too - but things are changing. I noticed a lot of florist now run the business at home and advertise online by simply posting picture of their work in instagram etc - seems to be cost effective method.

Originally Posted by Jaz
I'm a bit diveded on the topic of making a career out of a passion, but that's probably due to my basically anarchist self :/.

While I'm really happy for every person who can do it, I absolutely hate to HAVE to do stuff. The moment I feel forced to do something, I start to hate it, so for me, pretty much any career would have been the same - go to work to feed your family, hate every moment of it, get back home and feel good for being home and NOT having to work.

As for following my passion(s) in form a of a career… well, a friend (who had done it himself) tried to persuade me to do it as well. He nagged so much that I finally gave in and did it (although just as side work). But the moment the contracts were there and I HAD to do the stuff I loved, I started to resent it, so after I had fulfilled all the contracts I went back to doing the stuff just when I actually felt like doing it, and that felt a lot better .
Did I mention that I hate to be forced to do stuff ?

I'm too old to become a pro gamer nowadays, but I'm pretty sure I would have hated that as well had I tried to do that back in the days. Gaming is undoubtedly my biggest - and unhealthiest - passion, but HAVING to do it for a living…

Purple: You bouquet is beautiful.

Thanks, Jaz!

Yes, I know what you mean. I'm also worried that if I become a florist one day, I will end up disliking the whole thing - which would mean I will end up with another job I hate and lose one of my hobbies at the same time.

Originally Posted by Myrthos
Good thing you do not HAVE to do stuff around here

I made my hobby (electronics) into a study and after completing the study started a career as programmer. Never had, nor tried to find, a job in electronics. I just stumbled into things. Like I went from programmer to architect to project manager. It all happened quite naturally, but can say that I am happy doing what I am doing now. I don't regret not ever getting a job as an electronics designer. Even though at the time it was my passion.

You must be really talented to change career successfully several times! A little jealous

You never know blobby . Post more flower arrangements please!

Originally Posted by purpleblob
You must be really talented to change career successfully several times! A little jealous

I didn't deliberately change careers. I just happen to work for a rather large company for 28 years, where I just naturally flowed from one thing to the other.

Interesting as a friend of mine in Australia just decided to quit her day job, work part-time, and pursue her true passion - writing. Luckily she has a hubby willing to support her (and can) and she is an excellent writer which helps.

She asked me what my passion was … and I honestly could not answer. I know I am a lot like Jaz in that the moment I feel I have to do something I start to resent it. Even in simple things. Like on Nexus I have a few mods and ENB/ReShade presets spread out over 3 games (FO4, Skyrim, SE). Making them for myself was a lot of fun and very rewarding. It was also fun releasing them initially. But after a bit you get demands - make this patch, will it run with ABC, can you make it do Y … and suddenly I have no desire to work on it anymore.

I like to cook, be with animals (dogs especially), spend time in the woods, play computer games … but if I had to cook for a living, work at an vet or animal shelter, or become a ranger … I would probably resent it

Course tPurpleblob sounds more like you are following a hobby with more passion versus giving up everything to become a florist or wedding planner. Perhaps that is a much better balance … unless you are lucky enough to be able to marry your passion with a job and not mind a hobby becoming work. Course for some it remain fun. I mean even a hobby does have its work components. Any hobby can have its drudgery and work mixed in with the fun.

Anyhow the floral arrangement looks very nice and wouldn't mind seeing some more images of what you come up with.

Meanwhile I think my dream/passion is to just keep my current job till I retire. Its pretty good overall and I have good pay, good coworkers, and great benefits. So I have nothing really to complain about.

On a side note I do relate strongly to the burn out feeling of work and the daily grind though. For me it is a bit of age and just not having the energy I used to for the IT profession. Too much change in too little time frames.

Originally Posted by luj1
You never know blobby . Post more flower arrangements please!

Yes, I am hoping it will lead me to something greater in future, we will see

Originally Posted by wolfgrimdark
Interesting as a friend of mine in Australia just decided to quit her day job, work part-time, and pursue her true passion - writing. Luckily she has a hubby willing to support her (and can) and she is an excellent writer which helps.

She asked me what my passion was … and I honestly could not answer. I know I am a lot like Jaz in that the moment I feel I have to do something I start to resent it. Even in simple things. Like on Nexus I have a few mods and ENB/ReShade presets spread out over 3 games (FO4, Skyrim, SE). Making them for myself was a lot of fun and very rewarding. It was also fun releasing them initially. But after a bit you get demands - make this patch, will it run with ABC, can you make it do Y … and suddenly I have no desire to work on it anymore.

I like to cook, be with animals (dogs especially), spend time in the woods, play computer games … but if I had to cook for a living, work at an vet or animal shelter, or become a ranger … I would probably resent it

Course tPurpleblob sounds more like you are following a hobby with more passion versus giving up everything to become a florist or wedding planner. Perhaps that is a much better balance … unless you are lucky enough to be able to marry your passion with a job and not mind a hobby becoming work. Course for some it remain fun. I mean even a hobby does have its work components. Any hobby can have its drudgery and work mixed in with the fun.

Anyhow the floral arrangement looks very nice and wouldn't mind seeing some more images of what you come up with.

Meanwhile I think my dream/passion is to just keep my current job till I retire. Its pretty good overall and I have good pay, good coworkers, and great benefits. So I have nothing really to complain about.

On a side note I do relate strongly to the burn out feeling of work and the daily grind though. For me it is a bit of age and just not having the energy I used to for the IT profession. Too much change in too little time frames.

I am lucky that my hubby is 100% supportive too - he was the one who insisted that I start the whole floristry thing even as a hobby. I am bit of a worrier so it took me a long time to get this started

You sound quite content with your job - I envy you for that

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! Made me very happy! You can view my flower works here: http://imgur.com/a/mQin9

Lovely flower arrangements, purple. And I think your flower bouqet in that group shot is the prettiest. You are definetely talented.

About chasing dreams and passion. Hm, I guess I'm boring, I have no desire to chase anything.
It was nice to read about your dream and passion though. I hope you'll be successful and will love doing it as long as you're doing it, i.e. arranging flowers and designing bouquets. I wish you many satisfied customers!

PS That picture with you and the flower crown… beautiful!

Originally Posted by purpleblob
So, I've been wanting to work in wedding industry for a while - yadda yadda yadda…

I wanrt to marry you this very moment but the damned distance because we didn't invent teleporter yet is an unsolvable obstacle!
To be honest I want to marry at least half of members on this site…

Following your dream is the most important thing, never ever ignore it. It's exactly the part we, others, fall in love with. Your dream becoming real.

Don't forget, she dared to follow her dream and we loved her instantly:

Originally Posted by joxer
To be honest I want to marry at least half of members on this site…

Sorry, I'm taken.

Originally Posted by purpleblob

Thanks for the encouragement everyone! Made me very happy! You can view my flower works here: http://imgur.com/a/mQin9

Those are lovely and you also have a very nice smile. I'd buy pne of those arrangements for something like mothers day, may day, or any other festive occasion.

This is a great thread. The flower arrangements are gorgeous. I showed them to my mom, who is confined to a wheelchair, and paints as a hobby to keep busy. Her favorite subject to paint are flowers. Whenever my wife and I go on vacation, we take plenty of pictures of flowers, print them out, and bring them back. My mom really liked the arrangements.

What do you mean by "flower market"? Do you sell your arrangements at local farmers markets?

I'm in IT, and had reached the top level I could at that particular position/software at my company, to the point where it got so routine, and I was stale and burned out. I was fortunate enough to be approached by management and asked to change to a different position/software product last year. The new position has gotten me excited again, and I am enjoying IT just as in the old days. In a sense, I went from the top of the food chain to the bottom, but I'm truly having fun having to learn a ton of new things and solving new problems.

As for chasing dreams. I think of Mark Twain's quote - "Twenty Years From Now You Will Be More Disappointed By The Things You Didn’t Do Than By The Ones You Did Do".
I came upon this simple quote a number of years ago, and it made me stop and think.

My passions has always been travel and hiking. I had this long bucket list of places to go, and trails to hike, a list that just sat there, unfulfilled. Once I read that quote, I got my lazy butt moving. Canada, New Zealand, the US Western National Parks…. I think having to work and save $$$ for these trips adds to the enjoyment I get from them. Australia is my next big dream.

The trips provide a major incentive to work hard. I work to live, not live to work.

I see so many people go through the motions, they just seem to drift aimlessly along without any thought to the bigger picture out there. Life is short, and suddenly you are looking back and you get bitter because you understand too late, that you basically wasted it.

@Eye: Aww thanks so much you made me blush!

@joxer: Also taken and married But I know what you mean. You wish you can help everyone achieving their dream, beautiful thought

@wolfgrimdark: Thanks so much. I wish I can deliver some of my work for free to you

@jdthooser: Ooh if your mum ever like my flowers enough to paint for fun, please do show!! I went to flower market to buy fresh flowers to turn them into bouquet I am not selling anything at the moment - I feel mine isn't good enough to sell yet.

Just remember…

Originally Posted by purpleblob
I am not selling anything at the moment - I feel mine isn't good enough to sell yet.

Forgive me for being bold, I think a strive for the perfect bouquet might be hindering you.
Really, the examples you provided are truely good enough to sell, more than good enough. I'd be quite happy to get bouquets and flower arrangements like that.

Nice work purpleblob and keep it up

I feel one should keep ones hobby and job separate. Along with gaming, one of my other hobbies used to be programming. I got a job as programme as well and it was lot of fun in the early day. However as you progress in the company, politics come into play and you can't always do what you want. Lot of times, what you do and how you do is dictated by business needs and not necessarily your interest within it and because of this I think I have lost programming as hobby now days. I no longer come home after work and say work on my personal programming stuff etc. I have been trying to write my own game for a while now but its always start and stop and never going anywhere. The main reason for this is that I got burnt out at work programming and I don't want to do it at home as well!

Only when you desire something sufficiently enough, will you attain it. Seek and ye shall find.