By+Stephanie+Buck

My great aunt loved to press flowers. She lived in the Northeast corner of California—the part nobody talks about—where the elevation is so high and the climate so dry youll get nosebleeds. The flowers were bright orange Indian paintbrush， delicate lupine， earthy sage.

Often shed hike the mountains that border Nevada， or the stream beds that crust1 over in summer， searching for new plant life. Shed compare her treasures to botany2 books， then label and press them for safekeeping. A few times， she couldnt find entries at all； shed discovered plant species that no one had named. This earned her small accolades3 from the scientific community， but really she just loved to press flowers.

She was a hobbyist by nature. When not caring for family， she would dry pine needles and weave them into coasters or Christmas ornaments. But she was also a product of her time. In the post-war era， hobbies were what people did in their spare time， after work： basketball， cooking， writing poetry， fixing motorcycles. These were activities people didnt feel whole without.

My great aunt died not long ago， in 2000， but she would have a hard time understanding how my generation uses its spare time. For many of us， the hobby is dead. Our work lives have merged with our free time， and hobbies are now often indistinguishable from second jobs. In a culture obsessed with productivity， the hobby has become the next venture.

After the US survived two world wars and the economic fragility they wrought，4 the American middle class discovered a new definition of leisure. The Industrial Revolution had already freed up more time than ever before. By 1950， the average work week hovered5 around 40 hours， down from 70 in 1860. Union membership peaked in 1954 at 35% of the population， contributing to job security and higher wages， and GDP rose 250% between 1945 and 1960.

This economic prosperity， together with technological innovation， created the modern corporation. These organizations offered structured work weeks， job security， higher pay， and paid vacations， but let their employees go home at 5pm.

From disposable income the leisure industry was born—and welcomed by 60 million people. The American road trip， motels， summer camps， and amusement parks all vied for6 travel dollars. People built model planes in their basements and learned to cook fancy foreign food. Youth culture emerged because， for the first time in American history， children were generally not expected to help with work. By 1958， spending on leisure activities amounted to $34 billion per year.

Leisure came to define a persons identity during this time， in many cases superseding7 career identity. Having a hobby was not only accessible， it was a status symbol. It meant one had time to relax， a privilege previously enjoyed only by the very wealthy. The “automatic nature” of many jobs led to “an increasing number of workers to look not to work but to leisure for satisfaction，”wrote New York Times book reviewer Erik Barnouw in 1958：

“The history of past centuries has been written mainly in terms of the work men did. We may be coming to a time when mens leisure activities will be at least an equally fruitful field for inquiry， reflecting not only the achievements of an age but also its tensions， frustrations， and search for values.”

Barnouw was wrong， of course. Post-war prosperity petered out8， replaced by civil unrest， oil shortages， and economic uncertainty. Though the US economy rebounded in the mid-1980s， the power of the unions continued to decline and foreign competition to increase. The idea of a job for life and a solid pension disappeared from many professions. 1993 marked a pivotal9 year： Sears laid off 50，000 workers due to competition from Walmart； Xerox cut 10，000 jobs， nearly 10% of its staff； and IBM let go 60，000 workers， the companys first layoffs in its 80-year history.

By the time of the recession of the late aughts10， traditional jobs simply werent available to many young people. And those who did work were discontent. In 2010， only 42.6% of workers were satisfied in their jobs， an all-time low since research began in 1987.

With fewer reasons to stay in one job， workers began to explore a wider variety of options. For some， these options included turning a hobby into a business. Young people turned to what they loved， what they were good at， with an entrepreneurial mindset angled toward self-employment. Its why we have so many artisan lollipops and food trucks.

The American economy has fared better in recent years， but the millennial dogma to follow ones bliss remains.11 According to a 2015 poll， older Americans primary concern about their first job was earning money or learning skills. By contrast， 57% of millennials prioritized12 doing something they found enjoyable and that made a difference. Half said they would take a pay cut to find work that matches their values， and would switch jobs as their values changed.

Instead of viewing work as the inevitable grind13 and hobbies as core to ones identity， as in the post-war era， todays professionals strive to equate career with leisure. A Quartz piece published earlier calls this new phenomenon“the journey of duality.” Phyllis Korkki writes，“The secret to a side hustle for the soul is to believe in the power of incrementalism.14 Know that 20 minutes here and there add up. We can make it a priority to find time to devote to personally meaningful endeavors15.”

Loving what one does is a utopian ideal. Few will argue against it. But its worth remembering a couple of things. Hobbies were something a broad swathe of16 people could enjoy， while the side hustle is much more middle-class phenomenon. And even those who can afford what Robert A. Stebbins， author of Serious Leisure： a Perspective for Our Time， calls “leisure careers，”might be better off taking a break from being productive.

Thats tough when were being conditioned to love our jobs. But perhaps we can tear a page from the post-war book regarding boundaries. If the future of work is bliss， we still need to know when to put it down and pick up something else， whether its family game night， hockey league， or just being with nature—happiness simply for the sake of it.

For my great aunt， flower collecting was a path to peace outside the home. It was a meditative return to nature， something she could own and be alone with. It was not work. Her flower-pressing excursions17 were citizen science by happy coincidence.

Still， I cant help but imagine her today， perhaps earning a paycheck as she hunted for new plant species， logging18 47 hours per week among the dusty hills of Northeast California. Would it taint19 the purity of her hobby？ Or would it enhance her life？

Maybe it wouldnt be the worst thing. Then again， Im a millennial.

我的姨奶奶鐘爱压干花。她住在加州的东北角——那个无人谈及的角落，海拔高且气候干燥到能让人流鼻血。那里的花儿有亮橙色的火焰草，精致的羽扇豆，还有朴实的鼠尾草。

她常常徒步登上与内华达州接壤的山上，或者行至夏日里结成硬块的河床，寻觅新植物物种。她把寻到的宝贝与植物学书籍做比照，然后标记、压干，妥善保管起来。有好几次，她根本找不到相应的物种条目；因为她发现了未被他人命名的植物种类。这也让她得到科学界小小的赞誉，但其实她只是喜欢压干花而已。

她就是个天生的业余爱好者。在不为家务操心时，她会晒干松针，然后编进杯垫或者圣诞饰品里。但她也是那个时代的产物。在战后时期，爱好是人们在空余时间、下班之后做的事：打篮球、烹饪、写诗、修机车。这是人们感觉完整生活中不可或缺的活动。

我的姨奶奶在不久前，也就是2000年去世了，否则她会对我这一代人使用空闲时间的方式感到费解。对于我们中的许多人而言，爱好已死。我们的工作生活和我们的空闲时间已融为一体，如今的爱好往往与兼职无异。在一种执迷于生产力的文化中，爱好沦为了又一种投资。

美国挨过了两次世界大战及其导致的经济脆弱后，美国的中产阶级发现了休闲的新定义。工业革命带来了前所未有的更多的空闲时间。到1950年，平均每周工作时长约为40小时，远远低于1860年的70小时。工会成员数量在1954年达到了高峰，占到人口总数的35%，为工作保障和薪资提高做出了贡献，国内生产总值在1945年至1960年间上涨了250%。

经济繁荣与科技创新一同衍生出了现代企业。这些机构提供结构化的工作周、工作保障、更高薪酬和带薪假期，但还让他们的员工下午五点就下班回家。

从可支配收入中，休闲产业应运而生——并受到了六千万人的欢迎。美国的公路旅行、汽车旅馆、夏令营和游乐园都竞相争夺旅游收入。人们在自家地下室搭建航模，或学做花哨的外国菜。青年文化诞生，因为在美国历史上，孩子们第一次不用再工作贴补家里了。

到1958年，人们每年在休闲上的花销达到了340亿美元。

这样一来，休闲方式逐渐定义了个人身份，甚至在很多情境下，取代了其在事业上的身份。拥有一项爱好不再是难事，还成了地位的象征。爱好意味着一个人有闲暇放松，而之前這是只有富豪才得以享有的特权。许多工作的自动化性质导致了越来越多的劳动者不再满足于工作所带来的乐趣，而是转向休闲。《纽约时报》书评撰稿人埃里克·巴尔诺在1958年如是写道：

“过去几个世纪的历史主要记载了人们做哪些工作。如今我们可能来到了一个时代——人们的休闲活动成了至少同样卓有成效的研究领域，这反映的不仅仅是时代的成就，还有时代的不安、挫败和对价值的追寻。”

当然，巴尔诺说错了。战后的繁荣逐渐消失，取而代之的是国内动乱、石油短缺及经济的不确定性。尽管美国经济在20世纪80年代中期反弹，但工会力量日渐式微，外国竞争加剧。很多职业中工作终身制和可靠养老金的概念不复存在。1993年是关键的一年：西尔斯百货因遭遇沃尔玛竞争而裁员五万人；施乐公司削减一万个职位，占到其员工总数的近十分之一；IBM解雇六万名员工，这是该公司80年历史上第一次裁员。

到了21世纪初的经济萧条期，许多年轻人根本无法找到传统的工作。而那些在职的人也不甚满意。在2010年，仅有42.6%的员工对自己的工作满意，这个数据是该项研究自1987年来的最低值。

既然越来越少的理由支持劳动者留在一个岗位上，他们便开始去拓展更广阔的就业选择。对于某些人而言，这其中就包括将爱好变成事业。年轻人们带着自我创业的心态，转而投入他们或倾心或擅长的工作。这就是我们为什么有这么多的手工艺棒棒糖和流动美食车。

近年来，美国经济走向复苏，但千禧一代追随幸福的教条始终未变。在2015年的一项投票中，老一辈美国人对自己第一份工作的首要关注点是赚钱或学习技能。与此相反，57%的千禧一代更在乎从事自己享受的，或者能够有所作为的工作。有一半的人说他们宁愿接受减薪去做符合他们价值观的工作，而当他们的价值观改变时就要换工作。

不再像战后时期将工作视为不可避免的苦差、将爱好视为个人身份的核心，如今的职业工作者致力于将事业与休闲等同起来。前不久，一篇《石英》上的刊文将这一新现象称为“二元性之旅”。菲丽丝·寇奇写道：“人们为心灵所需而成功兼职的秘诀在于要坚信渐进主义的力量。知道从这里或那里挤出的20分钟总会积少成多。我们要优先考虑的是，挤出时间投入到对个人有意义的努力中去。”

热爱你所从事的工作是乌托邦式的理想。极少有人会反对。但有几件事情你得记住。爱好是大多数人可以享受的领域，而兼职更多的是中产阶级的现象。即使是那些能得以从事罗伯特·A. 斯特宾斯在《正经休闲：一种看待我们时间的视角》一书中所说的“休闲职业”的人，能够暂停下来工作可能情况会变得更好。

这点很难做到，因为我们已经适应了去热爱自己的工作。但我们能从战后一本关于界限的书上撕下一页用于借鉴。假如工作前程似锦，我们仍需知道何时放下工作，并捡起其他东西，不论是家庭游戏之夜、冰球联盟，还是只是走进自然——为了快乐而快乐着。

对我的姨奶奶而言，采集花朵是家以外寻得宁静之路。像是一种回归自然的冥想，是她能专享并自得其乐的所在。这不是工作。她的压花远足是因机缘际会而成的民间科学。

然而，我忍不住去想象，如果今日她每周在加州东北部积满尘土的山丘上远足47个小时，寻觅新的植物，并赚到了收入，这会污染了她这项爱好的纯洁性吗？还是会提高她的生活质量？

也许，这并不是件最糟糕的事。毕竟，我属于千禧世代的一员。