Getting Paid for Having Fun

Yesterday, I went to pick up my business mail which generally consists of a bunch of work-related correspondence that involves my attention--and not generally in a good way. So imagine my surprise at getting a package from Subterranean Press and finding a special signed edition of John Scalzi's The Sagan Diary with a whopping $25.00 honorarium inside--my reward for reading one of the chapters of the book on audio tape. Now, I know you are saying to yourself, "WTF is this woman chattering about here--you'd think she won the lottery or something," but in my mind, I did. I am always amazed everytime I get paid even the smallest amount for doing something that I enjoy--writing articles, reading an audio book, blogads payments for blogging etc. Have you ever noticed that getting paid even a little for something you like is worth more than getting a whopping check for doing something you don't or even just doing something you feel neutral about that feels like work? I imagine the key to fullfilling work is to turn doing those things we love from a hobby into a job--but then, maybe that would feel too much like work.