Kathryn G. O’Brien, PhD
Foundational Essays | Reflections
Featured Essay: What if the Life You Planned No Longer Fits?
You made the decision. You did the research. You built the business, moved to France, changed direction, or created the life you thought you wanted.
And then you began living it.
That’s when things became interesting.
Something you expected to love mattered less than you imagined. Something you barely considered became important. A new question appeared. An old assumption stopped making sense. A possibility you hadn’t planned for caught your attention.
None of this necessarily means you made the wrong decision.
It may mean something much simpler—and more useful.
Does Everything You Love Have to be Useful?
When did we become so determined to make our pleasures productive?
You start painting, and someone asks whether you've considered selling your work. You enjoy taking photographs, and suddenly there's a conversation about building a portfolio. You write because you love writing, and before long someone wants to know when the book is coming out. Even walking can acquire targets, metrics and a device congratulating us for having done it correctly.
We are remarkably good at turning things we love into things we accomplish. And I'm beginning to wonder what gets lost when everything we enjoy has to justify the time it takes.
