What makes the difference between one day and the next?
There is more to life than work, even when there’s not
What can you be passionate about without being all consuming?
Finding what touches your soul
Passions are not about ability
They are about drive
They are about the motivation to create meaning
Work, of course, can always be a passion
But does passion pay the bills?
Should it ever need to?
We may delude ourselves into feeling that to have a successful career – we need to be passionate
That we need to be all invested
To the exclusion of all the else
To emulate the master of the universe with their latest autobiography
To do so risks their fate;
Their lives, their liberty, their reputation, the ultimate emptiness of their passions
Is accomplishment enough?
Making others miserable, or the exploitation of others, is not a passion to emulate
Or a very good excuse
An argument is to be made that careers are about compromise
About finding what works for circumstance
To not be passionate, does not begat a lack or concern
We can’t all be passionate about all that we do
All of the time
The expectation, is unrealistic
Regardless if we are talking about others or ourselves
Cut yourself a break
Don’t believe your own press
Or the Instagram posts of others
How does one find a passion?
How does a passion find you?
Will it be a picture of altruism and selflessness
Will it be pure creation or performance
A hobby, a pastime, a person, a pet
We define that passion as much as it will ultimately define us
And as if to surprise you, along comes that passion
That other interest
The thing that can put work and career into relief
And bring you the same
We often cannot see the label on the outside of our jar
A kind word, an insightful comment
Can hold a mirror up
And penetrate the fog of the overly familiar
For me, it is the gift that COVID gave
Introspection and a void to fill
For me it’s words, which some might call poetry
A word that causes as much discomfort in me as is probably does to you right now
Sorry it’s the only one that fits
An outlet for emotion and thought
An exploration of love, loss, life and death
And of course dogs, there are always dogs
The words that fit best are their own passion
Whether these are them
Is not for me to say
Only for me to believe in
Passions are for oneself
If others find value in them, so much the better.
Word Outlet 