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Doing what you love might be overrated, says Fil-Am author Marie Claire Lim Moore
If you need something to celebrate this early in 2016, just think of how far away we are from the days of #YOLO. Though not completely dead, the glory days of this "Carpe Diem" rip-off are over...but unfortunately, the idea behind the movement lives on.
Filipino-American-Canadian banker and best-selling author Marie Claire Lim Moore calls it the "DWYL" or Do What You Love mantra—one taken up by everyone from Oprah to Steve Jobs.
All of these successful people throw out buzzwords like passion, ambition, drive, dreams, et cetera. Quit your job, travel! The daily grind of a desk job is death!
These tips have given birth to hordes of fresh graduates confused about what they should do with their degree, feeling helplessly inadequate because they're not millionaires like Mark Zuckerberg. Didn't he invent Facebook before he graduated college?
"I think you really have to think about your circumstances and that differs per individual," Moore told GMA News Online in an interview, "Certainly, if you have that cushion, you can pursue something you love fully."
Being the daughter of Filipino immigrants from Marinduque and Batangas, Moore understood early on that DWYL is a luxury. She takes pride in the sacrifices her parents made to provide for their family and she seems even more proud of their unwavering positivity.
She shared their stories in her first book "Don't Forget the Soap (And Other Reminders from My Fabulous Filipina Mother)" and continues to illustrate a different map to better life satisfaction in her new book, "Don't Forget the Parsley: And More from My Positively Filipino Family."
In it, she concurs with Miya Tokumitsu's belief that DWYL is "for a privileged few with wealth, social status, education, and political clout" and, because passion projects are being celebrated wantonly online, Moore discussed the dangers of being blinded by this mentality.
"I just think that so many people are in positions where they have so many student loans to pay or families to help support and I've seen them pass up opportunities because they say it's not exactly in line with what they love," she said, "But then I see them 10 years later and 'doing what they love' didn't bring them any closer to their goal. They're in a lot of debt and they also feel guilty because they weren't able to help who they wanted to."
"DWYL might also put people in a position where they don't have the financial freedom to leave a bad boyfriend or be on their own," Moore cautioned, "Some of these things are helpful to remember, especially when people are young."
Being practical is often depicted as a tragic compromise, but as her book illustrates, the beaten path can also lead to happiness. Moore explained that not understand the value of sacrifice is why DWYL is elitist.
"Making sacrifices—it puts whatever you are doing in perspective," she said. "A welding job might not be what people love to do or how they want to spend their time, but there's so much meaning and purpose to what it's providing for their family."
What matters, she said, is carving out time and discipline to see how else you can leverage your position or the networks that your job is giving you. Additionally, the perspective you gain also helps you do a better job and doing quality work makes you more valuable.
"The truth is, even if you're in something that you don't love, you still need to do a good job," Moore said, "Only then will you meet people who might help you find other areas to get involved in."
There are many faces to the story of immigrants (illustrated in the films "The Immigrant" and "Brooklyn") and with the world getting smaller, the stories of the first generation who dared to sail away from home become more important.
From them, Moore shows that we can understand the value of making opportunities for yourself and respecting work. In the age where the highlights of everyone's life is posted on social media, it feels like you really should just go big or go home.
Going home is great, though. It is a place of comfort and love. Doing a 9-to-5 to afford one so you can kick your shoes off and binge watch movies is a dream worth having, too.— BM, GMA News
