FINDING PASSION IS OVERRATED.
Let’s talk about the P-word. P for PASSION.
Follow your passion!
Find your passion!
Passion this, passion that.
In my humble opinion, searching for passion is overrated, so stop looking for it. Let it find you!
Passion seems to be a panacea for most life problems.
“Find your passion” – it is like telling someone that getting married will solve all their problems.
Yeah right!
You might have looked into the idea, especially if you’ve felt stuck for a while or looking for a career change.
If only you could find your passion, life would be a piece of cake.
So you look around, trying to find your passion.
And there’s not much that would qualify. You may like a thing or two, but is that passion? Not quite.
I think the suggestion to find your passion is a tall order.
It assumes there’s almost something outside of you, just waiting to be discovered.
It’s hardly the case.
Sometimes you can hear that you can discover your passion by looking at the things you’ve done in life or naturally gravitated towards for a long time.
I suppose this could be helpful sometimes, but it also limits you to the things you’ve already tried. I assure you there are loads you haven’t that can have greater potential.
FINDING PASSION VS FOLLOWING YOUR CURIOSITY
Now that we know not to waste time and energy on looking for passion, we can be smarter and follow our curiosity.
Try to date some ideas casually. There’s a lot less pressure in the casual dating world. Sometimes it will be a dead-end, and that’s ok.
I would like to suggests simply to follow your curiosity.
You’re not looking for a life’s passion; you’re just poking things around, checking what sparks your interest, opening new doors, and let yourself explore new territory, without expectations, without judgment.
At the early stages, do not ask yourself why something sparked your curiosity. Most of the time, we really do not know why we want something or do something.
Later, we may know more about it; we may develop our liking towards something. But early on? No, not really.
POKING AROUND TO SEE WHAT MAKES YOU TICK. AND WHAT STICKS.
I’ve been a photographer for nearly 20 years.
Was I passionate about photography when I started? Was I thinking of photography as a way of life and potential career?
Nope.
One day I met a friend who just got his new camera; I held that camera, and something told me to get an exact copy, camera bag included.
Vaguely, I remember thinking: wow, this is a real camera, with all the buttons and dials, where I would actually have to know what to do to take a picture (and a real film in it – way before the digital era). How exciting!
What really excited me about it wasn’t the idea of taking amazing photos, but just the perspective of feeling good about knowing what I was doing and gaining some competence in the area.
So I got that camera, and I took some shitty photos for a while.
I thought I looked really cool just holding the camera in my hands.
But in the meantime, I also experienced other positive emotions, such as feeling more involved in a situation, when I had my camera with me before I ever heard about mindfulness. I started looking at things differently. I started seeing things differently.
My photography was a great feedback loop for me. And it grew on me, slowly.
IDEATING AND PROTOTYPING
Photography is often my way of life and engaging with the world. So, is it my passion then? Maybe, probably, sometimes, for better or worse.
These days, we’re like an old married couple. We biker and sometimes fight, but there’s a ton of wonderful memories and some plans for the future.
Still, that doesn’t prevent me from exploring other options or date other ideas I find interesting. So, yeah, I often cheat on photography. Sometimes it’s just a fling; sometimes, it becomes a relationship with something entirely new.
However, I realized that I am not married to this passion or that passion; I do not want any particular idea to dominate my life; I am committed to living an intentional, interesting life, wherever my curiosity leads me next.
If you’re feeling stuck and have no idea where to go next, don’t look for a new passion or a new career opportunity.
Just follow your curiosity for a while and see where it takes you.
