Why do you do what you do?

So this week has been another fascinating week because I have been re-evaluating my motivations for doing what I do. Why on earth would anyone spend hours of their life writing books and posting blogs if it wasn't for money? And that is it... That is why people think that I am bizarre - I don't write to make money. I write because I love writing and that is where the intrinsic and the extrinsic values come in. The extrinsic are the values applied to having a feedback or a response. The intrinsic are the internal values where you simply enjoy a task for creativity or the act of doing it. When my books sell I am excited that someone has the opportunity to share an inner landscape with me.

So let me ask you why do you do what you do? Do you do things because there is money or approval involved? What is it that makes you more happy:doing something for money or simply because you enjoy it? Isn't there a pleasure in simply enjoying a creative process and creating something you are proud off? If you fancy sharing that creation then it is out there for others to enjoy. I admit in years gone by I had those heady illusions of becoming the next J.K. Rowling, most writers do. One has to have a dream and have a fantasy or a delusion every so often. Mine can be somewhat frequent and we won't go into the one about doing a headstand on a paddle-board (I am actually working on that).

So let me ask you honestly: does doing something for money and approval make you happier than when you do something just for the sake of doing it?

Let's consider baking a cake - don't you do that because you love it or have a cakey urge? I would guess you like creating it and then sharing it.  How does that change when the financial dynamic comes in? Will you only make a cake if money is given to you? It is strange how society has developed that something only has worth if you make money from it. Yet you can't make money from being happy. Isn't happiness worth more?

The whole doing something purely to make money is a hard lesson I learned in my late twenties when I had my own photography business - I lost my love of photography because I had to make money from it. I had to take on work that I did not love and spend hours making photographs that I did not enjoy making. When you have been in that situation for a few years then something shifts - you realise that you work in something you enjoy to earn money whilst keeping your passion on the side because you enjoy it.

Admittedly there are people who make money from their passion and I celebrate them. Yet for me when money was assigned to creativity it became like mental constipation. I was having to mentally force rather than simply enjoy a creative release. I wanted to spend my time creating the books that I loved and explore the stories I desired to write. Now the irony about all this is that my books do make an income; however, they were already created and the income is a by-product from doing what I love.

With all of this in mind: what is it that really motivates you to do what you do?

My audio books can be found here: http://www.audible.com/search/ref=a_mn_mt_ano_tseft__galileo?advsearchKeywords=ruby+allure&x=0&y=0