Passion

“Passion is not a job, a sport, or a hobby. It is the full force of your attention and energy that you give to whatever is right in front of you. And if you’re too busy looking for this passion, you could miss opportunities that change your life. You could also miss out on a great love. Because that’s what happens when you have tunnel vision, trying to find the one.” Terri Trespicio

I really enjoyed this talk, and while it may not speak to everyone, it definitely did so with me, and I’m sure it will for many others. This is not some war cry to throw passion under the bus, but to recongnise that not everyone has or needs one, and that you’re not ‘Lesser’ for it. They key is in knowing who you are, and that can take some time.

For a long time i didn’t want to acknowledge this, but I just don’t have a passion, and that’s ok. I don’t need it to be good at something, nor does it mean that I’m without ambition.

I’ve had various interests over the years, I’ve experimented with different subjects in uni, part-timed at a cafe, interned with the finance & management side of the same cafe later; i tried out blogging, then Instagram and later vlogging.

And while nothing really stuck, I enjoyed the ventures and learned a helluva lot from each phase.

But no, I’ve never been passionate about any of them, sure I was really interest and curious, and i wanted to learn from those interests, but i didn’t want them to be the rest of my life.

I consider life to be a series of experiments, if there’s something that interests me, I’ll find a way to do it. Some experiments work out, and some don’t; some scale & grow into something else, and some just die never to see the light of day again.

No, I don’t have a passion, but that doesn’t mean I’m not ambitious, capable or driven, it just means that i may need some time or help with direction, but once I get out of my own head and pick a direction, I will get on with it and I will excel.

This is not a dig at passion or the people who have it. It’s wonderful if you have a passion, I’m happy for you, maybe even a little jealous, but for the others out there like me who don’t, like Terri says, stop searching for your passion and do.

Maybe our passion lies in the actual journey, with the the learning, experimentation & growth. Maybe.

Whatever it is, it’s time that i pick a direction and Keep Moving Forward #KMF

Originally written in July 2017