For Love or Money?

Lately, in my quest for my dream job, I have been struggling with the familiar internal conflict of a job I love, or a job that will make me rich. Which is more important - money or happiness?

I have always been a firm believer that happiness is more important than money. I have further been a believer that doing something I love will eventually bring the money. Call me a dreamer, call me ignorant or just call me plain crazy, but ever since I was young, I always thought I'd be rich and famous for something. When I was really young, I wanted to be a marine biologist, mostly because I thought dolphins, sea lions and whales were really cute. That dream died when I found out that being a "marine biologist" wasn't just swimming with dolphins every day, and oh yeah, I was really bad at science...

When I got a little older I realized that I was a born writer. I started writing a Nancy Drew type novel when I was in elementary school called "The Adventures of Jillian Rhonda." The yet to be published mystery was tragically accidently erased from our old computer and was never recovered...

When I was in high school I decided that I would be an investigative reporter or a war correspondent. It was then that the alias "Allie Waters" was born. I was sure I would be on CNN with bombs exploding behind my head or writing for the NY Times.

When I got to college I found my niche to be more of a feature writer. I wrote for our college newspaper for a couple semesters as a news editor but longed for more interesting assignments beyond campus construction and the played out "dry campus" controversy. It was then that I developed an interest in public relations and marketing. I had a great professor, Gail Alofsin, who runs the Newport Yachting Center in Newport, RI who taught me about the wonderful world of PR and event planning. I even interned there in the summer and helped promote music festivals, food festivals and boat shows. It was a learning experience and sparked a new interest for me beyond journalism.

After college I took some time to find myself, taking various jobs from marketing at a hotel, to waitressing at a slew of hot spots on the water in RI. In my spare time I was a freelance writer for The Newport Mercury which was the closest thing to my dream job I've had to date. Only problem was that it paid barely a 100 dollars a week. It was more of a hobby than a career but brought me more inspiration and pride than I had felt in years. Having people read and praise my quirky articles about bars and restaurants in town was an amazing feeling.

So flash forward to the present. I had a good run working at a boutique PR firm, excelling at the creativity and social media aspects of the job. I found a new love for blogging, social networking and technology.

So now, as I try to determine what the perfect job for me will be, the job that will make me rich AND famous (and by famous, I mean well-known and respected in my field and invited to fun events and parties, not like "Paris Hilton famous") I continue to wonder, If I stick to what I love and what I know I'm good at, will success inevitably follow? Is it really that simple, or will I have to at some point, give up on my dreams to make the big bucks? For now, however naive it may sound, I am sticking to my guns and holding out for a job that will allow me to do what I love...and from there...I know the money will come! Until then, you can find me tucked away in a coffee shop writing on my laptop by day, and maybe waiting tables at a local hot spot near you by night...