The Illusion of Finding Your Passion
“You have to choose just one”
For class, I was asked to choose the passion with which I have the best ability to communicate to others. I looked at the piece of paper on which I had written down my two passions and had the reaction at first to say, “No, I can’t”. It was as if to ask of me, “choose whether you wish to see or to hear”. They’re both senses so close to me, my perception and way of understanding and organizing all of the complexities that are prone to dismantling my sense of sanity. To write, to photograph- to see, to hear. What is my greatest passion? And which one am I better at?
I ended up choosing writing. It’s a love of mine, and I may just be better at it. But choosing it over photography felt like choosing a child over the other- it was rather unsettling. I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Why writing, why not photography?” This back and forth, choosing and doubting, plays into the most basic and most complex decisions of my life- especially in that of my future career plans. Whenever I’m asked, what are your plans? What do you want to pursue professionally? I’m taken into that same state of indecisiveness and deep introspective analysis- to see or to hear?
Let me explain. A career is obsolete without my passion. I simply can’t do it if I don’t care. How society capitalizes on unemotional, bleak, and disconnected careers and vocations truly goes against my personal grain and innate convictions. I just can’t do it. Not to say it’s wrong, but I can’t. And so, to choose a career is the same as choosing my passion, or choosing to see or to hear.
This crisis of personal identity pertaining to career choices or tastes is noticeably common amongst the millennial generation. Yes, were the snowflake, whiner babies who want a job they actually care about. No it’s not bad, but it also can get us carried away.
In the end, what I and most others want is to have a voice, a means of disrupting the hyper-active conversations going on throughout society and to leave a mark on those that listen. We all want to say something, to be heard, and to leave an impression. And when it comes down to it, the best way to do that is to be really, really, good at something. It’s not completely necessary that I’m passionate about it, though that certainly keeps my interest and thus aids in my ability to get really good at something.
I remember listening to a podcast that was aiming to answer this question, “How does one find their passion?” The interviews, interviewees, and creators came to the conclusion that passions are derived from the skills that we spend time developing, give our attention to, and eventually excel in.
Ideal careers are similar to the fantasy of fairytale love. So easy to be swept up in, the fairytale fantasy relies on the story that two people, despite time and place, are bound to each other and on the day they meet will forever be happy and in love. Love, romantic or platonic, takes time, attention, and intentional development. It takes commitment, practice, and constant familiarizing. Listen, hear, plan, practice, repeat.
I don’t think its silly to compare our passions to love. To me, they belong in the same section of the heart, the muses of life and motivation. As the idea of fairytale love carries us away into unrealistic ideals and traps us in consistent dissatisfaction of the now and the current, so does the elusive idea of finding our true passion. When we become so honed in on the idea of finding our passion, we miss out on doing just that. We eagerly anticipate the day, a beautiful sun shining day or some bleak gray morning after being broken up with, that our passion, one true hope of finding meaning in our professional lives, will be revealed to us in glorious radiances and we will work happily ever after. This, as you may expect, is a false anticipation.
Passion is something serendipitous, yet it is carefully constructed by our choices. I don’t think that it is hard to say that many people thought they would have ended up with another vocation than what they have today. Not because they sold out, but probably because they developed their skills and as they did so, their passions evolved- a message buried in sand being continually unveiled through winds of time. How we choose our time, how we choose our major, how we choose our careers, hobbies, friends, mentors, etc., in all of these choices, we are constructing our potential passions in the skills that we are developing. And so, it is not our passions that we should be worried about- those will come. What we should be focusing on are our skills, the things we are choosing to develop today.
Remember, wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.
A book that comes to mind that pertains to this idea is The Alchemist” by Paulo Coehlo. One of the quotes says, “Remember, wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”Simply put, the things that you do, practice, try, learn- they require your heart, time and attention. In these daily practices, the skills you learn as a result of genuine interest, you will also find your treasure- your passion.
With this said, for myself and the other snow flake, millennial whiner-babies that desire the career in which we feel genuinely satisfied with, the career that plays our heart strings; I recommend taking a step back to look at your skills that you have pursued to develop. Than, ask yourself some questions. First, what are you good at? After an honest reflection, than ask yourself, what are you genuinely interested in? Than begin to ask yourself, which skills have you spent the time to develop? Which skills do you wish to develop and are you willing to spend the time do so? What do other people say you’re good at? Listen to some of these answers, and imagine yourself practicing these skills daily. Than, do it. Practice, learn, and let a passion reveal itself.
