Source: photographyofthoughts.wordpress.com

For six years of teaching, I have been carrying my hobbies along with me. My hobbies are photography, writing, reading, listening to music, and traveling. I call them hobbies for they are not included in my job description as a teacher.

Finding a job that involves my hobbies is possible. There is a possibility to take job of a writer and photographer for a travel or music magazine. That can be so much fun! But I think that would not be my calling. I cannot leave teaching for good just because I want to pursue them. I am actually contented with the fact that I could do them whenever I please even though I could not be paid for them.

I am reminded of the reasons why I should not give up on my hobbies. Learning from my dad who is a hobbyist too, I go back to them whenever I want to. They are like places to escape to and hide in. I once wrote a blog about keeping the things that bring joy, Resonating with Walter Mitty (Not Secretly). Do not ever lose the things that bring you joy. For if you do, you'll end up looking for pieces that make up yourself. Do not sacrifice it for the sake of your job. Because once you get home and you want to relax, they are the ones you will end up doing.

This blog, I AM A-O-KAYE is actually a major example of a place wherein all my hobbies jive: writing, photography, reading, listening to music, and traveling. Whenever I travel, I usually take photos and I write about them. I also write about my experience listening to my favorite band/s. Sometimes, I write about what I've learned from a book or an event. Like many bloggers and writers, I do not earn from this. But I do not worry much about it.

Rommel Bundalian, a Fujifilm photographer stated, "Shoot not for others to like. Shoot for yourself." It's the same in writing. Write not for others to read. Write for yourself. It doesn't mean your writing has no purpose. You write because of your passion instead of your desire to catch attention or please people. Keep on writing even though your work is still amateur or no one reads your work. Everything gets better over time. It just begins with writing for the sake of your love for it.

When I was in elementary, my major hobby was writing poems and stories and drawing about them. The topics were crappy because they were mostly about love, family, and animals. Those writings would not make articles and books. But I wrote anyway. In high school, I joined the school newspaper. Though I quit the year after, I still enjoyed all activities that involved writing. On my third year, I wrote on my English workbook that I wanted to be a writer. My English teacher, who happened to be a rockstar and one of my favorites, told me that I should. I tore the paper out of the workbook and kept it. When senior year came, I signed up for Journalism which eventually led me to a spot in the Yearbook Team. Then, college was a time for me to mature in writing. I wrote about God a lot. I still wrote some crappy poems about love and school. But I think what I enjoyed most was writing about Him. I still do. Academic writing always get in the way though. Thesis it!

Writing is merely a hobby to me right now. I couldn't even call myself a good writer. But if I will have to turn it into a dream, I envision myself getting better at it and making a difference through it. Though I cannot give up teaching entirely, I think writing can still connect to teaching. They say teachers make good writers as well. We'll see.

If God wills these hobbies to turn into a career, then all I need to do is obey and use them in a larger scale for His glory.