Does making more money make it easier to be unhappy?

This question goes well with the Billy Crystal aka Fernando Lamas line, “It’s better to look good than to feel good”.

It seems most rich people tout that “money doesn’t make you happy”...only poor people think that, right? Although Micheal Ovitz has been known to say, “...you only say that if you don’t have money”.

So, does having a lot of money just make it easier to be unhappy?

Let’s go one step further. Does having a lot of money by working at a profession you enjoy make you happier? More likely than the title of this blog implies...wouldn’t you assume so? But...happier than what?

I can truly say that I do not personally know of anyone in my immediate peer group that enjoys his so-called job or profession. Period. Even some acquaintances and close relatives of mine are in the same boat. They hate what they are doing!

So you say now, “If you hate what you’re doing...do something else”. Of course that is easier said than done from a pragmatic standpoint. I happened to have done just that in the last two years. Hell, I did it several months ago. So am I happier than before. The answer to that question is “yes”...and “no”.

I truly enjoy...no...I truly love what I am doing now: photography. Every time I set out on a photographic endeavor I feel like I did as a kid on my way to Disneyland. I feel elated...fullfilled...excited...anticipatory...a little anxious, but happy. But just like going to Disneyland...I get somewhat depressed “on the way home”, or when it is over.

The other side of my coin involves the money angle. Yes, I enjoy photography. But I don’t enjoy being a “starving artist”. Heck, there have been many great artists who died pennyless and miserable. The cash has not begun to flow as yet. The business aspect is still in the fledgling stage. And I am somewhat mired down in that quagmire of self-doubt.

This self-doubt comes about when I’m not feeling the self-reliance it takes to push on, ply my trade, market my skills, and take the next step. Maybe I’m not good enough to make a living at this thing? Maybe I am good enough but don’t possess the savvy to make it a successful business? It will take both of those characteristics to make me happy. And, thus, successful...in my mind.

Is looking good better than feeling good? That, just like everything else, is an individual thing. It’s all relative.

Speaking of relative...I don’t have any rich ones. So, I guess I should just push on with the “plan”...gotta do what I gotta do...I ‘yam what I ‘yam.

Maybe eating more spinach will help!

And, no, I don't plan on cutting off an ear yet. I may climb a flagpole naked for attention...watch for that in the local news.