How to Find Your Passion
Picture by Jorge Menjivar @dearjorge
I feel like a lot of people walk around life not knowing what drives them, what motivates them.
It can be hard to find your passion and to understand exactly what it is. If it’s one thing, or many. If it is weaved together like a spider’s web, or spread out all over like a maze. My passion is storytelling. I love to create something out of nothing. To take an idea and weave it together into something beautiful.
It’s important to remember that some people won’t always understand your passion. They might find it odd or different, which can sometimes make it hard for you to hold onto it. No one likes feeling judged. Not everyone will accept what you love, but you should know that that’s okay. An old friend of mine used to call me a dork for liking theatre. I used to wonder why people feel the need to drag others down for loving something. I ended up realizing it’s because they don’t have something of their own to hold onto. There is something so beautiful about talking to someone about what they’re passionate about, to see that joy in their eyes, that fire. Some might try to take that joy away from you, but don’t let them.
There was a time though that I thought people wouldn’t think I was cool. When I was younger, I’d tell people that I used to write songs instead of being proud of that fact. I wouldn’t tell them that I still wrote songs but acted like it was a babyish thing that I’d outgrown. Over time I realized that this was ridiculous, but it took a while. Don’t feel bad if you’re not quite ready to share your passion with the world. It’s okay to keep it to yourself for a while to develop it and figure out what exactly it is.
It’s scary to think that you can lose your love for something if you spend too long neglecting it, but it can happen. We live in a world obsessed with money. Why major (in college/university) in something you love when you can major in something that can get you money? I’m not saying majoring in something that can help you make a large sum of money is a bad thing, it’s actually a smart thing, but when you spend all of your time focusing on something you’re not passionate about, you can lose the thing you are passionate about.
What’s even scarier than losing your passion though is the idea that someone could never know what their passion is to begin with. I feel like a lot of people walk around life not knowing what drives them, what motivates them. They spend their days mindlessly going through the motions. Don’t let that be you. Go. Go out and find you what you love and then hold onto it. Never let anyone take it away from you or make you doubt what it is that gives you your fire.
I guess the point of my ramblings is this: don’t let anyone make you second guess what it is you love. And if you don’t know what your passion is then go out and find it. Spend some time just with yourself. Go out and explore your world. If you’re young and don’t know what your passion is, don’t worry. You have time to find it and maybe even get a little lost along the way. Stray from the path a little bit, whatever you’re passionate about will always bring you back to where you’re supposed to be. Don’t worry if it takes a while. Anything worth chasing is worth the wait.