[190530] Handwritten letter from D.O.

“Hello. This is EXO’s D.O. EXO-L, you were very shocked by the sudden news right? My heart feels heavy as I wanted to mention it first but I seem to be a little late. As much as this was a decision that took me a long time to come to, I wanted to tell you that I’ll be back healthily and safely. I want to say thank you to EXO-Ls who have always been supporting me. I hope that everyone will only experience things that make you smile always and be healthy. I’ll come back safely and greet you with a healthy image. Thank you.”

But there’s a world of difference between doing what you love for you, and doing what you love for a paycheck. 

I went to undergrad for graphic design and 3-D design–art and more art, I usually say–and I loved it. You know what I didn’t love? Trying to collect my fees from clients. Trying to meet unrealistic, over-simplified or over-specific briefs from people who didn’t know what they were talking about. Coming home, having worked creatively all day, with no creative juice left for the things I wanted to do.

You know what I would tell you instead? Do something that you can be interested in, with people you like.

You don’t have to love it. Loving your work can be a lot, and it often means you have to live in your job 24/7. Some people can do that. Not everyone can, or should.  But if you can find work that’s interesting enough that it doesn’t feel tedious, and people you can enjoy spending your 9-5 with, and you can make money, that’s great! It means you can do the things you love for you.

I’m in law school now. It’s interesting work, and difficult, and I like doing it. I like how complicated it gets, and I like the stories it tells. But I don’t come home and read law journals for fun. I come home, and I sculpt, and I draw, and I paint, and I read. I do these things for me.