Why do I find work meaningless and why I don't like lucrative work?

[Anonymous]

I've been doing a 9 to 5 job for over a year and I am really pleased with my salary. I can't say it's unpleasant, it is really ok, but I don't have much enthusiasm. My boss is all right, but we can't communicate properly and according to his attitude, I am not quite his ideal employer, unlike some other employers. I don't really feel I need this money so much at this age, since I live in the apartment I lived with my parents before they moved out, since they still support me with money and I don't spend much, I don't have a girlfriend or a family I have to look after now.

I studied literature during my undergraduate and I was very enthusiastic and I lost myself in studying without feeling that I'm working, but the anxiety that I would not be able to make enough money to support myself was always looming over me. After graduation, I was happy to find a job in a different field and I was so relieved. However, now I feel that I am a stranger in a world in which most people are only preoccupied with money and profit and I feel at ease with people in the area of literature or sports, my two biggest preoccupations. I wish I could've adapt, I wish I could've been more professional and successful, but I find this "world" quite meaningless for me, with all due respect to other people who keep the world moving with their "mundane" jobs.

I wish I could like my job more and thrive and work all the time instead of waiting for the weekend, but there is something inside me which demands writing. If only I could stop worrying about making money and having a potential family to support, I would push myself and go the extra mile for writing, as I did during my undergraduate.

[WindAtMyBack]

I never cared about making lots of money. Liking my job was always a must for me. I refused to work anywhere that I didn't like, no matter how much it paid. I've walked away from high paying jobs, and taken jobs that paid a tenth as much.

It sounds like you are letting society's obsession with money influence you more than it should. Of course you need a certain amount of money to live, and hopefully save at least a little for your future. But beyond that, you need to take an honest look at yourself, and what you want from life. Ask yourself it the desire for money is coming from within, or if others are making you doubt yourself.

Only you know what you want in life. Just because everyone else is doing it a certain way does not mean you have to. As long as you make enough to live and save a little, chase your passion.

[exitseven]

You are not unique. I have a good, well paying job in IT. Some days are better than others but generally it is okay. I was teaching computer science at a local collage until Covid screwed it all up. I really liked it and want to go back if kids ever decide to go back to school and they hire me back.
As good as my job is, my heart is just not in it like it was 20 years ago.

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO

[provokeesmokee]

Why not set aside blocks of your day to write, then?

You can definitely do both. Or even arrange for a leave to go on a writing retreat.

Even the greatest authors of our time would write manuscripts while working day jobs.

You have time in your day to write.

[Nikki1989]

Finding the right job is one of the biggest challenges in life.

[Hispanic-Cool-Guy]

Because you are doing isn't your passion.

If money wasn't a problem at all, what would you be doing in life? Whatever your answer is then that's your passion and you need to work towards it.

[Guido]

I used to have a great job but the world changed an that industry dried up for me. I have a decent job but it's not a lot if fun. I can't wait until I can retire.

[artgorgeous]

Nothing stops you from writing on weekends.