The Damaging Message

I have a problem with the idea of a side-hustle, quite apart from the name which is pure management speak. What it does is to send or reinforce the message that everything you do must be part of the capitalist system. Out go the ideas of hobbies or volunteering and in comes the idea of constant working seven days a week, fifty two weeks of the year. It tells people that unless they are working for money their time doesn’t mean much any more. As such I will ignore the idea and I will continue with non earning hobbies and volunteering.

I blog but I will not monetise it, another awful word by the way! For a start I can’t imagine anyone would want to pay to read my ramblings but I would also lose the fun of writing the blog. The pressure of producing posts that people are paying for would make me concerned that I am not giving them value for money and if someone unsubscibed I would immediately assume it was something to do with me.

Today I am starting a volunteering post with a charity called Coram Beanstalk. I will be going into a school to help with reading. My role is not to teach but to encourage and to guide the pupils I help to find the joy in reading that so many of us already feel. I couldn’t imagine being paid for that. Again, how could I relax and develop a proper rapport with them if their success or failure could impact any money I might earn? Clearly it shouldn’t be something I should be paid for and I wouldn’t do the job on that basis.

So, no side-hustle for me. I will keep my love for writing and helping pupils to enjoy reading. It might not make me any money but that is definitely for the best.