Is a Vocation a Legitimate Career?

So I have been wrestling lately with the idea of whether or not I want a career as a writer or a vocation as a writer. All things being equal, I don't need the money, of this I am rather certain. And the concept of having a writing "career" seems a bit disingenuous to me - not sure why. Maybe it's that insatiate demon of doubt that continues to claw at me day in and day out. How could I presume that I am launching a writing "career"? Besides, it's not even legitimate - you are self-published. 

Whatever it might be, I have grown fond of the word "vocation" to describe what it is I hope to do - to accomplish with the rest of my life. Of course, I have borrowed this from monastic thinking, as it was not too long ago that I was considering a monastic vocation of some sort or flavor. This has played out to reveal that I am not much suited for it [unable to submit to the desert theology and cenobitic monasticism is unthinkable - last think I want to do is surround myself with a bunch of people day in and day out], yet I can't help but accept a certain level of my lifestyle to be at least hermitic if not altogether eremitic, in my own extravagant way.

A vocation is a particular occupation for which someone has been trained. I have not been trained for writing, at least formally. But, being an author [more importantly, a writer] does not require any kind of degrees - or even any certain level of writing ability. Just yesterday I was reading a grammar book that described Robert Ludlum's books as garbage from a "correct" standpoint. This made me laugh because, as the author of the grammar book admitted, it may be crap from a grammatical standpoint, but his books still fly off the shelf! 

I have also picked up countless books on library bookshelves and started reading [a few actually made it home with me], discovering that the writing is atrocious at best. And these are books that actually get published by mainstream publishers!

But I like the idea of having a vocation rather than a career. A career seems to smack of greed to me - not sure why. I guess I'm just so alienated by the idea of pandering for sales. I think that's why I like the ebook idea the best. If someone wants to buy my book they will. And it will be cheap! .99 Cents! I think that is damned reasonable. But I don't have to shake anyone's hand. I don't have to quibble over platitudes. Marketing is indirect, or over the internet and typically asynchronous [my favorite], so I'm actually kind of excited about it.

In the end, though, there really is no difference between vocation and a career. Both require work. Both deal with a profession or a trade - a task repeated to the point that it becomes highly fluid, efficient and effective. Maybe there is room for me in the writing world. Maybe not. At least, with the way the market is, I don't have to elbow anyone out of the way, don't have to scramble to find my niche - I can take my time, maintain complete creative control, express myself [or, more to the point, allow my characters to express themselves], and let my work stand or fall on its own merit. 

I don't care about legacy. What does it matter what they say about you after you're dead. You're dead. Well, except for in my stories.