I’m a freelance copyeditor and proofreader, and I work primarily on books. Some of them are downright snores, and some jobs are putzy because of specs or software. But overall I enjoy it.
I especially enjoy copyediting fiction, especially when (as is often the case for me) I have authors who write series and specifically ask for me to edit their subsequent books. It’s great to be appreciated and even make it into the acknowledgments now and then.
I love the fact that I help create books.
I develop software and when I get to do that, I love it. It is all the other crap that goes with it that is annoying.
Nope.
I’m doing something I love doing, but it’s volunteering at a non-profit in hopes that I’ll either get a job or have the experience to get a job at another non-profit.
I teach psychology, a field that I love with the heat of a nova. How could I not love my job? I get to talk about my passion, I get a captive audience, and I get a paycheck. Win-win-win.
Yea, I bitch about students and the system and all that, but at the end of the day (or the beginning, or the middle), I walk into a classroom of students there to learn (somewhat), and I get to teach them my field. Fantastic.
Yes! I am a veterinarian and I love, love, love what I do. I do make a pretty good living, though nothing close to what I would were my patients humans. But I get to snuggle and kiss MY patients.
I can’t imagine wanting to do anything else. I LOVE my job.
Well, I spend my days getting paid to keep computers working, and large parts of my evenings and weekends ‘playing around’ with them, so I guess that qualifies.
Thank you.
You sound like a GREAT vet!
I wonder if there are any like you around here.
I suppose I will be finding out soon.
I love the job I have, but it’s not like it was a hobby or personal passion of mine before I started it.
Masturbating? No, I can’t say I make any money doing that.
Underline mine: that part makes me think there’s a little notion of mine you may find interesting.
If you look up “vocation” in a dictionary, you see several definitions. Most people I know would give the one m-w.com lists as 2a: “the work in which a person is employed : occupation”, but 1a covers that one and a lot more things: “a summons or strong inclination to a particular state or course of action”.
For me, a vocation is this activity, profession or state that when you learn about it, you discover what was “missing” in your notions of the future. My youngest brother came home one day that they’d had professional talks at school and announced “I know what I want to do! I want to goto business school!” He was sooooo happy… and the rest of us looked at each other and said “oh damn, you mean the reason you’d been so gloomy lately is that you hadn’t figured that one out? We could have told you!” My own vocation, discovered about age 4, was “traveling to lots of new places without my parents”: consultant at international levels fits the bill, but so would have travel writer or stewardess.
For some people, “what you love to do” is a profession with a very clear label, for others it’s not, and even someone who loves “arguing for my side and winning” may become a trial lawyer - or a corporate negotiator. God knows that same brother has had enough battles with banks to tire anybody who didn’t have that fighting streak!
Happy to help out, even if it’s just encouraging words on a message board. Entertainment production is a very challenging and rewarding field, and anyone with the fortitude and skill set necessary to survive in it is gonna have a helluva ride. Remember: life is a rollercoaster, not just a hill climb. And don’t be too proud to do whatever job needs doing at the time. If you find yourself in Vegas on a tour or a show, send me a PM.
Yeah well, if you find that job, let me know and tell me how to get in touch with whoever does the hiring. 
I make some of my money doing psychotherapy, which is rewarding and comes very naturally to me and I also make money making various kinds of art which I love. Of course I wish I made more money doing both, but I know I’m really lucky to be able to support myself doing things I really enjoy.
If you could do it for 8 hours a day, five days a week, I bet you could find a way to make money with it.
Mostly. I am a philosophy professor. Which means I spend about 30% of my time researching and writing philosophy (which I love), maybe another 50% teaching and doing enjoyable teaching-related stuff, and then 20% doing things that are mundane or sometimes downright tedious (grading, administrative work, etc.).
I’d say I am fortunate to have found a job with such a favorable balance, and I am always working not to let the balance get less favorable (people are always pushing me to take on more administrative work, because I am not completely incompetent at it; I am getting better at saying ‘no’.)
I’m a juvenile public defender, which is pretty much exactly what I wanted to do when I went to law school.
That having been said, if I had significant student loan debt, keeping this job long-term would be very difficult.
That’s really cool! What do you wanna be when you grow up?
That whole list, plus working out and taking long walks in the summer and hanging with my main squeeze.
People who “love what they do” generally don’t have any hobbies and would rather work than spend time with their families/loved ones. The lack of deadlines/demand/pressure is what makes hobbies so much fun.
I’m sure you didn’t mean this to come out as condescending and judgmental as it sounds.
Are you the one who complains about grading papers and drinks while doing so?
Different people have different needs. I don’t have an “off” switch. When I was a video store clerk, I was the best damn video store clerk I knew how to be. I researched what makes a good customer service worker. I watched all of the new releases do that I’d be ready to talk about them at work. I’d have nightmares about late fees. I just don’t compartmentalize well. So doing a “job” job wouldn’t open up more room in my life for my other joys. It would be much more likely to inject s lot of stuff I don’t care about into my off time.
Some people need that alignment. Some of us a novel, and some of us are a collection of short stories.