Here at Creative Burrow we value so many things, but more than anything we value expression and freedom. We hope that each and every member of Creative Burrow can follow their dreams and do what fills their heart with inspiration, passion, and pure happiness.

In todays money oriented world that is sometimes very difficult to do, and often times in our pursuit of money we lose sight of the things that drive us, make us happy, and fulfil us....but we should not lose sight of our passions and dreams because these are the things that make our lives worth living. Money doesn't make us happy.

So take a moment to take a breath, follow your heart, and tell us what you would spend your life doing if money was not a concern.





Source: Zen Pencils

Now get out there, and follow your heart!

That is a fantastic speech, why haven't I thought like that before? its so simple

If money wasn't a issue I would be a full-time Animator/Artist

I recently listened to this podcast interview with this Scrivener Software Whisperer guy, and he said that he started out actually just trying to get a side job as a pizza delivery guy because he and his wife wanted to grow their family and needed extra money for that.

He didn't get any pizza delivery job, so he started thinking about what he was passionate about. He concluded, "I'm passionate about making money. Pay me to do something and I'll be passionate about it!"

Ha! Right now, actually, I'm in the same place. Luckily, I find something to like about every job that I do. There's a whole lot of in-between "soul-sucking" and "passion". I like to be of service to people and have a place in society. I always fall back to that because, with what I love, my muses are flighty. Either there's no stamina, no inspiration, or I wonder if I shouldn't be making a song or a graphic novel instead of prose so I'm scatterbrained all over the place. Jobs ground me, in a good way. (Says the full-time freelancer.)

Of course, once he realized that he loved teaching and computer software, and overheard a need for Scrivener tutorials...well, let's just say that he's very glad that he did what he did instead of get that pizza delivery job.

I can completely relate to that Elly, I am a bit similar. If I am treated well and paid I can find something to become passionate about.

Very well said Bunny, and very insightful!!  If money were no object I would spend all of my time working on my writing and craft projects.  I really struggle finding the time to write, and have very little time to sit down and work on craft projects because I have to earn money to survive.  I really wish we lived in a world where there was not the constant stress of needing money!

Do you guys think the world would be a better place if more people could follow their passions?

Bunny (05:19am Fri, Sep 26, 2014)

Do you guys think the world would be a better place if more people could follow their passions?

I think that it would be a sign of a better place if more people could follow their passions without hurting other people or neglecting the necessities that rarely anybody does get passionate about.

Turn it the other way around, though, and it doesn't always work.

If everybody did what they wanted in the sort of society that we've set up, though, I think the fear is that the world will be a horrible, horrible place because passion is not structure; following passion doesn't ensure that anybody will do anything properly.

That might be a false, constructed, projected reality or self-fulfilling prophecy...but the one who would follow that passion can't prove naysayers wrong without the naysayers' cooperation, which, of course, never comes because they're naysayers.


The sad fact is, money is an object. I left a financially supportive and morally unsupportive family to live the way I do. When I first struck out, I'd go for days without eating and be too weak to write. I can't even say that it's passion that got me through. It was luck! It was taking odd jobs that paid me to do something other than what I'd rather be doing (because I'd definitely not rather starve to death and leave a corpse that other people would rightfully say was given so many opportunities and returned nothing to society). I was passionate about having a place to sleep at night that was safe from weather and muggers! I can't just do that and get paid for that, no, I pay for that privilege by doing something else, and that something else isn't always going to be another one of my passions.

I had friends who lent me money until that ruined the friendship in two months flat because they had to suck it up and do the soul-sucking job to support this freeloading Bohemian.

I eventually got enough success to pay them back, eventually getting jobs that I actually liked, but I must have done some sort of harm if they stopped believing in me--if something else happened to prove that I wasn't worth it. An uncomfortable conversation with a landlord, a missed meal, something that they wanted to buy but couldn't because I'd taken their money. Something must have happened to them while I was following my passion, and I hate myself for doing that to them.

Definitely, now that I'm mildly-to-moderately successful, it's about more than paying back the people who bore with me while I got here. There are people in my life who have a murderous resentment that I should have the temerity to do all that to someone else, leave it behind the both of us, and continue on happily when they're still taking soul-sucking jobs. I tell myself that it's their problem if they're jealous, but the perceived hostility and vitriol still hurts my feelings, you know? It does give me guilt and shame. Not enough that I'd go back to trying to fit in, but it's not not there. I want to be kind and not inconvenience people. This was a hard choice and I can't justify that, I can only ignore it or stay with it.

So is the world a better place when people follow their passions? It depends who.

My first thought was that that was really inspiring, but then the more I think about it, the more it actually makes me sad.

Because I know I've done exactly what he's saying not to do, and it isn't until someone points it out to you that you realise you're wasting your time working at something you don't like to earn money to buy things that don't really make you happy and carry on working and buying things. The worst bit is when he says we're teaching our children to live as we are. My five year old daughter has started saying to me that she wants to be rich because everyone wants to be rich, and that if she had wishes she would wish a million pounds for me because she knows I want more money. She must have overheard me and my husband countless times saying that we can't afford X, Y or Z, or wondering where we're going to have to cut back this month, or discussing an unexpected bill, and now it seems she's starting to think that's the be all and end all of life.

And though it's never too late to change the path you're on, the further down it you go the more difficult it becomes. Once you're set in your ways and your life there's always a million different things that hold you back - the mortgage on the big house, the cost of running a car (or two), the clubs the kids want to go to and their nursery fees. We've tried not to get caught up into always having the latest "stuff" and we certainly don't have as many gadgets or expensive toys as some of the families we know, but there's still always something that we "need" to buy. How could we stop working for the sake of money and face the alternative of having very little when there's such an accumulation of spending built up around us? The real world isn't built to allow people to do what they want and forget about the money.

If money really was no object? I'd be creative and make things. Not just writing, but I'd learn to sew and do woodworking and grow vegetables and that sort of thing. And I'd teach my kids that life doesn't have to be about stuff.

I do think that the world would be a better place if people could follow their dreams and passions in life...as long as the passion is not to harm or hurt others!  I will consider passions as happy thoughts and only good can come out of someone following their dream.

The world is full of stressed out people who do jobs they hate and struggle so hard just to get a meal on the table or clothes on their kid's backs.  If people could make a living doing what they were destined to do and not have to worry about money issues, it would be a world full of bliss because people would be genuinely happy!

I think that if there were no worries about money, and we just did the tings that pleased us and made our hearts happy, that would be great; but sadly, the world doesn't run like that, and we do have to get out there and do the things that we don't love so that someday we can do the ting that we do love.
The example they showed of the girl with the horse made a lot of sense. She had a passion for horses, so she found a way to work with the horses and still support herself.
I think that this is a workable way to live and still do the things we enjoy most, is to look for a way that we can do the things we like and still earn a living.
Sometimes, I think that means we also have to do a job that we do NOT want to do, to survive to where the thing that we do want to do is making enough money to live on that full time.
And, if we look for it, there are almost always things that we can enjoy about any job that we choose to do, making it work for the time that we have to do it.

It's not only money that gets in the way, either, though, isn't it? Some people try for parental approval regardless of the money, or so that they fit in with their peers or are admired by their peers regardless of parental approval, or sometimes it's just some sort of... fear, regardless of money or people. Maybe just the simple fear of being taken to task for exercising one's own agency.

There is also this thing in America about "Keeping up with the Jones" as we call it in which people are always trying to outdo each other.  It is something that happens in social circles and in families a lot.  Everyone wants to have the better house, more money, or the latest electronic item.  It is sad and it makes people demand more money so that they can get the best possessions possible.  I value my life and the experiences I can have in life.  I ran around with an ancient cell phone for 3 years because I wanted to go out and enjoy life as opposed to getting a brand new top of the line phone.  It was much more worth it to me to spend the gas to go visit places around the state I have never been to before than to have a thing.  Granted I eventually had to get the nice cell phone so that I could do some writing and other little jobs while not at home, but the phone purchase was a tool by which to work on my freelancing career.  People should really concentrate on making their lives a beautiful experience as opposed to buying things so much!

Rosyrain (09:47pm Sat, Oct  4, 2014)

People should really concentrate on making their lives a beautiful experience as opposed to buying things so much!

Well, if they truly feel that buying a thing is what makes a beautiful experience... different strokes, you know? I wouldn't automatically condemn that as shallow, it could be that they really have an appreciation for the mechanics of a thing.

Investing in life experiences such as travel or beloved hobbies, could be just as easily condemned by people who want to just scrimp and save enough money to live comfortably in their old age where it might not occur to them that they haven't lived life to the fullest in the little time they'd been given.

If money was no object I would have the world at my feet! I would travel first and foremost, spend time in each country and see every little bit of it in 5 star of course! I would then buy a home, a car and open a business, either a boutique hotel or a coffee shop that is peaceful. I would also then publish my book, make a movie and have a big wedding! My family would always be taken care of and I would have no limits as to how much I could achieve.

Well-spoken, Rosyrain !  I think that if people wold look at the things that actually make their lives more fulfilled, as opposed to just buying everything so they can say they are "keeping up with the Jones"; then everyone would kive a better life.
As Elly remarked, sometimes we buy things because that particular item brings us pleasure. That is totally a different thing than buying something just because the neighbor has one, and you want to keep up appearances.
If you buy a boat because you love to go out on the water, that is an enriching purchase. If you buy the boat because the rest of the people on your block have a boat in their driveway; then you have "missed the boat" even though you have it in your driveway.

I agree. If we are going to work so hard so that we can pay the bills, and hopefully have enough left over to treat ourselves, we should buy something that brings us a lot of joy. Life is too short not to be happy every step of the way we can possibly be happy. This is not yo say that people should just go out and buy things to make themselves happy, because that happiness is short lived when you get used to having that item.

Sometimes I feel as though I should have been born in a diff et en generation because I take so much pleasure in the little things in life. A lot of people in my life are not happy unless they are connected to their phones on Facebook and Twitter. I have stopped using Facebook and never did get a Twitter account. I like to have people actually contact me when they want to chat or visit. It seems that we make ourselves depressed half of the time. People get hurt when others delete them from Facebook and stuff like that. Why put ourselves through all of that?

I would sleep in every day. And probably travel. Taking my time in every country, just soaking it in.

One of the things, that irritates me the most is that when the budget gets tight in the public school districts the arts are the first thing on the chopping block. If money were no object I would make sure that every school had materials and equipment to have extensive music , visual arts  , drama and creative writing programs. I would also set up local community centers that would cater to the creative development of anyone who wanted to learn. We would take weekend field trips to museums and cities to get inspiration. I could fly in accomplished artist  and writers from all over to teach and speak. Young writers could visit with publishers and editors and get to the chance to see what it feels like to publish their on book. The possibilities are endless.

If earning money weren't a vicious beast with saw blade teeth and steak knife daggers, I'd be an author living in an off grid eco-friendly home in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. I'd plug into church and community activities to avoid a recluse existence. That is the life my soul desires.

Excellent answer "c". I would love to go out and explore the sites and sounds of nature and not have to worry about things like money. Money makes the world, but it also destroys the world for sure. Some people live and die by money.

I have done the live off the grid  lifestyle, and it is seriously hard , and not as glamorous as it is said to be; at least for me that is how it was.
Packing home all of your water, shoveling in buckets and buckets of snow to melt for water because it is too cold to haul it home in the back of the truck and not freeze.
So you shovel enough snow into 5 gallon buckets and haul it into the house until the bathtub is heaping full, and overnight , it will melt so you have water the next day.
I guess if money was no object, and you  could have all of the latest devices for off-grid living, it would be easier.
But still not for me anymore.
I am more than content in my little house with my little yard, garden, and little dogs.
Not much money; but life is good here.

I could not live 100% off the grid either. Life would be much too hard and it sounds like your snow adventure was miserable. I would like to live more closely with nature, but still have the modern day convienences of water and plumbing. I could probably go without electric heat and burn wood for heat, but I would not know unless I tried it.

I would write and write and write, but not as a means of earning a living. I would write just what I love. I would probably also get involved in some type of charity or even set up something to help people. I have always wanted to help people and motivate them to accomplish their dreams.

For some people, money is not an object due to the lack of it. They try to make the best of their situation, and this causes them to reflect on their position in life. When some people are at this point of their lives, it's blessing in disguise. They start to appreciate the small things in their lives. For example, gratitude for good health, peace of mind and an increase in spirituality. There is a saying “more money brings more problems.” If you down size your living expenses, you will have less to worry about in you daily life.

happyflowerlady (09:02pm Tue, Dec 16, 2014)

I have done the live off the grid  lifestyle, and it is seriously hard , and not as glamorous as it is said to be; at least for me that is how it was.
Packing home all of your water, shoveling in buckets and buckets of snow to melt for water because it is too cold to haul it home in the back of the truck and not freeze.
So you shovel enough snow into 5 gallon buckets and haul it into the house until the bathtub is heaping full, and overnight , it will melt so you have water the next day.

Why on earth did you not just have a water tank? Is that on the grid somehow? lol

be inqusitive (01:55am Sun, May 24, 2015)

For some people, money is not an object due to the lack of it. They try to make the best of their situation, and this causes them to reflect on their position in life. When some people are at this point of their lives, it's blessing in disguise. They start to appreciate the small things in their lives. For example, gratitude for good health, peace of mind and an increase in spirituality. There is a saying “more money brings more problems.” If you down size your living expenses, you will have less to worry about in you daily life.

Somewhat true, but for people struggling in poverty to survive less money is more problems too. Especially when you can't pay for a house or electricity, or water....it is not always quite so easy. If you're comfortable, able to survive but have to juggle things around to get something you want then I would say that's probably the point where you're happiest .

Welcome to CB by the way .

If money was not a concern, I would probably just blog for the rest of my life. Specifically I would blog about all the places I traveled in the world. Traveling in the world is something I have always wanted to do since I was a little girl. I would also really like to live in New York for at least three months and work as a registered nurse simultaneously. I would go swimming a lot whether be in a pool or at the beach. Money really is a big obstacle, but I still have many dreams that I plan on following through with no matter what.

If I don't need money, I would write lots and lots of stories. I would also pursue lots of hobbies like photography, painting, crocheting, making paper beads, playing the guitar and a lot more. I need money to live that's why I cannot give my whole time on these things but I'm trying follow my dreams little by little.

I imagine a world where money doesn't exist, people wouldn't need more than what they needed, people would be happier knowing they are not going to have to work until they cant stand, and we all would be looked after by each other.

Money is evil, and we ain't made to work this way but theres nothing we can do to change that, people with power sure have made it so we can't change the world

I love this thread! I haven't read all the replies yet but so far I agree with everyone. We weren't meant to work for a living. I think every living person should get a free vehicle, free place to live, and free food the day they turn 18. Anything extra you want you can work for if you want. Sure that might breed a lot of lazy people, but it will also eliminate a lot of crime and depression, which only exacerbate other problems. That would leave all our waking hours to be free time, so everyone would have no excuse not to do what they love.

I will answer this question in 2 parts...if money were no object and we didn't have to work for it; I would spend my days taking pictures, reading, making crafts, cooking, and travelling.

If money were no object but we still had to pick a career; I would work part time at a garden center growing plants and flowers for people. That would also be if education were no object, because to get a job doing that you need some horticulture experience, which of course, you need money for.

I think if everyone wanted for nothing we'd have a nation that strived for passion, to invent and innovate. We'd have people who would want to grow, to experience life...and people would be able to enjoy life...instead of the sort of communities we have now.

There actually a bunch of things I love doing apart from animation, and I feel overwhelmed on how much there is and we are all pressured to pick one specific job when we are young, its just so hard