Are Dreams Supposed to be "Fun"?

For my co-author, writing his books is his hobby. He wants it to be fun. If it were not fun, then it wouldn't be a very good hobby, and he would find something else to do.

And yet, I was baffled when he asked me, last night, whether or not I was having fun. Yes, I told him: but fun isn't enough.

At the most basic level, why do some people choose (as I have) to at least attempt to live out their dreams? Why is a dream desirable? By definition, the things that people dream of doing are what they believe they will most enjoy, they are most passionate about, and most desire to do.

The standard alternative is to find something to do that you don't hate but that is "just work." This creates a personal dichotomy: your work is not really who you are (usually), but it is a thing that takes up a lot of your time.

Pursuing a dream, by contrast, arranges your time so that it is in maximal accord with who you are.

All pursuits require work. If I washed windows for pay - which I don't want to do - it would be work. I'm trying to write books, which is exactly what I want to do, but it's still work. The difference is that, for me, writing books is fun.

But is fun enough? When my spouse asks me about my work, she doesn't ask: "Did you have fun?" Instead, she asks: "Were you productive?"

When you're in the business of attempting to do what you most want to do in life, having fun is a given. By definition, I chose to go this route because it would the most satisfying and the most fun.

Fun, I asserted to my friend, is not a measure of a fulfilled life. People feel fulfilled when they are productive, when they have accomplished something. In my case, I feel productive when I make progress towards finishing a book. Even if I was a construction worker, and I played a only a tiny part in building something, that is still productivity, and it's more fulfilling than the converse (a lack of productivity).

I also asserted that part of this productivity and fulfillment is tied to bringing my work to its natural conclusion. If I make art and stick it in a closet without sharing it, it has not realized its productive potential. I may have added to myself, but I have not participated in the human community. I haven't added to the discussion of values or the morphing universal ball of creativity in the human consciousness. That is the reason for my goal: to make art to share.