For someone who writes a weekly column, I (admittedly) don’t read very much as far as news and blogs go. I wish I did, and I know it’s taken a toll on my stylistic growth (or lack thereof).
But finding good content is tricky. And I’m a picky reader as it stands. So finding other content to read is just as much of a challenge as creating it can be.
That said, there are some recurring favorites that I do have. Man Repeller is probably the top of that list. In their own words, “Man Repeller explores the expansive constellation of things women care about from a place of openness and humor, with the conviction that an interest in fashion doesn’t minimize one’s intellect.” I can’t recommend it highly enough, and I kind of wish I’d come up with the concept first (oops). Check it out!
Outside of Man Repeller, I like Refinery29’s Money Diaries, a column on millennial women, what they earn, and how they spend their money. Finally, The Cut occasionally has good stories (though I’ve been side-eyeing them ever since that infamous Priyanka Chopra article. Do better!)
Anyway, the point of this wasn’t to just drop my list of recommendations for light reading. I want to talk a bit about an article I read that hit me hard, sparked a little something in my fuzzy, senioritis-afflicted brain.
Four days ago, Man Repeller published an article titled, “The Modern Trap of Turning Hobbies Into Hustles.” I’d suggest giving that piece a read, because it’s genuinely one of the best articles I’ve ever read. The article turns the often-quoted adage “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” on its head by instead suggesting: You don’t have to monetize your joy. You’re allowed to love something and be good at it without selling it. In other words, you’re allowed to enjoy something — and then draw the line at that.
Given the sort of work-centric messaging pervasive among millenials and Gen Zers, this article came as a breath of fresh air. We live in the era of the hustle, I’ve come to realize, and there’s seemingly constant pressure to work harder, sleep less, grind more. To push ourselves further, and then some more, just because we can.
To not ascribe to this mindset is akin to accepting mediocrity. And who would ever want that?
I’m perhaps one of the most guilty of buying into this, into the “cult of busyness,” if you will. At a school like Stevens, it’s pretty easy, given the sheer volume of work we deal with, but somewhere along the way, it started to bleed into the rest of my life, and that realization was terrifying.
I don’t get a lot of free time, but when I do, I usually have a tough choice to make. I’m a self-proclaimed workaholic. My goal has always been to optimize my time, to be hyper-productive as much as possible. So when a free hour or free day pops up that I don’t immediately know what to do with, I panic just a little bit. What should I do? Catch up on homework due next week or next month? Run to the gym? Write my Senioritis column? (Sorry, Audrey, I almost never pick the last one.)
Sometimes, I actually want to do those things. Other times, I sure as hell don’t. But I never question it, never swap it out for anything else, because putting the hustle over happiness is so commonplace that it’s instinctual. But if we’re so busy optimizing for success, when do we get to pick time for ourselves?
To be fair: I’m not ragging on the importance of working hard, or discipline. Both are necessities for success. But working oneself to death isn’t something to be romanticized, burnout is not #cute, and sleep deprivation isn’t a personality trait. (Apologies to the three freshmen reading this in advance.)
It’s okay to not have every minute of your life planned down to the second. It’s okay to not want to monetize your gifts, or broadcast every second of a perfectly curated, “busy” life. You’re allowed to spend a snow day off watching Netflix and staring at a spot on the ceiling. Your time is your own, not a showpiece for others to ooh and ahh at.
In other words — it’s okay to draw a line on the #hustle. Your likes and loves and wants and dreams are just as worthy of your time as your goals and ambitions. You can have both. And that can be enough.
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