What is a life without passion?

Passionately Curious

Passion is one of those buzzwords. A word whose use is so ubiquitous that we become desensitised to it and it loses it’s power and meaning. It’s ironic then, when you consider what passion really means: “A strong, barely controllable emotion.”

Why does this really matter? It’s often said that successful people follow their passion. To be happy we should follow our passions and the rest will fall into place. In the rush to fill our lives with passion. With feeling and emotion, it seems  to me that we haven’t become any more passionate about anything. Instead, what we have done is lowered what it means to be passionate. We’ve confused hobbies for passions. “Well, I like to watch movies, so I guess you could say I’m passionate about cinema.”

There’s no guessing when it comes to passion. You are either passionate or you’re not. If you have to think about it for more than a second, chances are you’re not.

We are at our most alive when we are passionate. What truly matters to us comes to the fore and we become a part of something bigger than ourselves. We lose ourselves and our inhibitions in the best way possible. We feel a true purpose that transcends rational thought and logic. We believe in something with all that we are.

From the outside, the passionate few can often seem crazy. “Why the hell do you care so much about the amazonian two-willied toad?”

The answer doesn’t need justification. It can be justified. But those who don’t understand don’t care. They will only hear what they want to hear and judge you anyway. Find your passion. It might not be easy. Many might think you a fool. Do it anyway. It’ll be worth it. Because that’s the thing about passion. When you have it, you don’t care what others think about it. it transcends personal thoughts and inhibitions. You have a purpose, and it’s bigger than yourself. Those who don’t have a passion won’t understand it. But somewhere inside them they’ll respect and envy you. For being a part of something. For feeling something and fighting. For being alive.

Passion is the only real antidote to apathy. And apathy is the biggest waste of time. You don’t regret passion. You sure do regret the times you felt nothing. It’s a horrible state to be in. Yet I think far too many of us build up walls to protect our modern comforts and in doing so, all we really gain from it is exactly that: apathy. The bored housewife syndrome.

How do you find your passion?

Well it doesn’t come and hit you on the head. Curiosity. Experimentation. It may start with an idea. A spark you feel when you see, hear or read something. Can you be passionate about something without ever doing it? Can you be passionate about film without being a film maker? or having some type of role in the film making process? I don’t think so.

We all probably have a number of ideas about things we’d like to do, or that might be fun to do. If you never do them, you’ll never be passionate about them. To get by, you’ll take a job you don’t even enjoy in the slightest and leave your ideas and hopes and dreams of being a passionate person for ‘one day.’ And wake up at 40 wondering where the time went and why you feel so empty and alone.

I don’t believe in one true soul mate. In the same way, I don’t believe any of us are truly born for one purpose, nor are we limited to one passion. We are capable of numerous great things. Which one should we choose? How do you find out? Without giving it a go, I don’t think you ever can find out. It’s why most passionate people find their passion as a child. When you do what you do for the love of doing it and it grows into a passion. The problem with adults is that we forget to be children. We forget to do things just for the fun of it. We always look first for the empirical reward. A hobby might not be a passion. But then again, it just may well be.

With passion you’ll have the ultimate highs and the ultimate lows. And that sure as hell beats the crap out of apathy.

So be curious and try new things. You just don’t know where they might lead you. And isn’t that a little exciting?