I think what makes a creative pursuit so special is that it’s new and it might not work. When your livelihood is on the line, you can’t take the necessary creative risks that make it energizing.
For this reason, I don’t think the goal of creative work is to make our passion projects our paid projects.
There are a few ways around this:
1. You can find someone who will pay you even if your new thing doesn’t work out.
2. You can have a day job that leaves you with enough energy to do your creative work on the side.
3. You can have enough personal runway that a few failures are okay.
If you have a passion project, but just can’t see how you could monetize it, that’s okay! I think there’s a lot of talk about making your passion into a business, but sometimes it’s fun because it’s small and because it might not work. The goal of creative projects is simply to enjoy the process. Cherish what you have. Your creativity matters.