What if your passion was something that didn’t match up to the world, would you still follow your passion? What if your passion felt less ambitious, would you go ahead and live it? What if it was belittled by the people around you, would you still go for it?
Recently in a session my client had a question that left me wondering about the way people connect with their passion and their purpose. How some people have completely different passions than rest. She wanted to know if her passion, the thing she felt strongly for, if it was right for her. She didn’t mention about ‘her passion’ clearly and its common for first timers to not disclose everything, so I didn’t mind. I got to my reading and gave her the answer, her blockages and how this passion would help her.
She heard my reading calmly and said, ‘you have no idea, what a big problem you’ve solved.’ She breathed a sigh of relief. I probed and asked about her question. She said, ‘I don’t have a big ambition. I don’t even want to make money. I’m not looking for fame. I love my family, always wanted a beautiful family. I love taking care of them and being there for them, cooking for them, I’m passionate about building a beautiful life with them, do you think it’s okay to have such a passion?’
I didn’t know what to say. Her cards showed success and happiness in great abundance. Naturally, I was a bit taken aback. Before commenting or giving my opinion I went ahead and asked her about her educational qualification and her work experience. She had a great job, she said. She held a good position in a company. But that wasn’t her passion. ‘I like to work, but I’m not fond of it. My job allows me to apply my skills and I’m happy there. But the truth is can’t wait to reach home to my family’
Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to tell her. In today’s world where women are finding their passion, leaving their well-paid jobs to follow their passion, I was talking to someone who had a passion that was so self-less. It was new for me and confusing. I asked her if she felt so strongly about her passion why did she find the need to consult with me? I was half expecting her to say what she said.
Her friends felt as if she was passion-less, she had no passion in her life. She wasn’t creative enough and was a typical woman. She didn’t have that fire in her life! After much probing she came to a conclusion that she was passionate about her family and building a beautiful home and wanted to confirm with me.
I understood why she felt the need to consult.
The pressure of passion and purpose has reached many leaps and bounds in today’s creative and fast life. If you find someone who doesn’t have a passion then they’re usually (if not always) judged and concluded to be “simply living” or worse “whiling away their time”.
This session with her took me back to the classics I’d grown up reading – ‘Pride and Prejudice’, ‘Little Women’ I always connected with the characters who went out to do something with their lives. They attracted me and inspired me. I also paused to wonder about how times had changed, in fact our opinions and worry about being perceived have changed. Back then, if a woman had a passion or itch to do something, she wasn’t viewed with a kind of respect she deserved and today women who don’t have a passion have to justify their self-worth and identity.
I told her (my client) that I wasn’t sure if I’m in a position to give my opinion on her passion and how she felt toward her family, but if she felt so strongly, if she was happy then she shouldn’t have to justify to anyone or feel ashamed. It was a simple statement and she didn’t have to pay me money to know that but she was so happy to hear me say it.
I wondered about passion and purpose and the thin line that separates and overlaps the two. I learned something that day about passion and purpose, that our passion and our purpose may not be aligned in a way we expect or hope. I’ve met so many people who are great poets, writers, photographers, designers, bakers, chefs, but their jobs are totally different. Some people I recalled also prefer the separation. Upon asking why haven’t they considered going full-time with their passion I’ve been told that they aren’t unhappy with their jobs and don’t feel the need to go full-time with what they love and that’s okay.
I always assumed that my purpose and my passion was the same but to be honest the more I think about it the more I realize that even though there are similarities between my purpose and passion, I’ve come to realize that I’m passionate about so many other things such as, poetry, reading, history, writing, dance, art and heritage, photography, and the more I think about it the more free and happy I feel.
I’ve come to understand that my passion doesn’t need to be unique, provide for me, serve me in any way. If it makes me happy, that’s good enough. If it connects with me, there’s nothing more satisfying than that. Passion can’t be judged or questioned. It can’t be measured in a conventional sense. Some people have passions that do change the course of their life. While some find “simply living” to be passionate enough. And there’s nothing wrong with that.
This may feel like a known subject, something that feels obvious enough but, after the session with my client I wondered if there are other people out there who felt this way. As if they don’t seem to have any passion just because they feel they’re not doing something that sets them apart or they feel they aren’t creative enough.
J O U R N A L P R O M P T -
If you’ve ever felt this way too then ask yourself
What’s holding you back from embracing your passion?
Why do you feel as if your passion is not good enough?
Why do you think you need to justify it?
If you’ve felt as if you have no passion ask yourself what makes you happy?