Epiphany in March: "I love my job!"

I realize Epiphany is in January, the 6th to be exact, but I had one just this week. I guess mine would be with a lowercase "e."

So often I have heard people talk about how they love their jobs. They use that very word--love--when they talk about what they do for a living: "I love my job!"

I have never understood this.

Other than my job as a full-time wife and mom, I have never loved a job. I do everything I can to work as few hours as possible and still earn the money I need. Currently, that is 12 hours per week, but I'd prefer it to be fewer. I used to think I simply wasn't cut out for a job. That would explain why all these other people find such joy and validation and sense of achievement and pleasure from their jobs, and I don't. For me, it's all about the money. I need money, so I work.

But this past week, I figured it out. It was such a "light bulb" moment that I wanted to shout: "I get it, I get it, I FINALLY get it."

Thanks to a friend from Billings (Hi, Teresa!), for the past two months I've had the opportunity to do some freelance writing for a company called Sidelines. Now don't get too excited; it's really crappy money, like not much at all. But it is some money. It's a "real" job in that sense, not just a hobby.

And I love it.

I do.

It is just so much fun. Writing has always been a source of peace for me, which is part of the reason I love this blog so much. Writing calms my anxiety and reduces my stress like nothing else. It utilizes the only creativity I possess and results in a product others can enjoy. It reaches beyond my own personal satisfaction; it becomes a gift to both myself and others. And now this company is giving me money to do it?! This is more than just a win/win situation; it's a win/win/win/win/win situation.

The other day when I was putting the final touches on a Sidelines post and commenting on several others, it hit me. This is what others feel when they say they "love" their jobs. This is it! Those others, however, have found ways to make an actual living doing what they love. Lucky are they!

My Sidelines writing gig will not produce sufficient money for me to quit my day job (or more accurately, my "three mornings a week" job). Still, I'll take it. Guys, it's so fun; you don't even know.

So that is my March epiphany. What's yours?