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The relentless kidWhen I was a kid, I loved to draw. There was no specific genre, anything I came across, I tried to draw. At first they ended up being stick people. Then stick mountains, stick fighter planes, stick houses, you name it, they're all stick! But I enjoyed it so much that I immersed myself to watching more cartoons, reading and buying tons of comic books, and even getting scolded by the teacher for vandalizing my desk. In time I've built up a decent "flesh" for my drawings, eventually I settled to drawing
portraits. Now that I look back at it, I realized that I wasn't really born with a "talent" to draw. Talent is such an overrated and cheatful term. It gives the impression that people are born with it. We're not. The reason I'm saying this is because people are easily put down by something they think they cannot do, and then resort to accepting that. Kids are immune to the realities of the world. They would never let up unless "taught" by an adult. We just need to be relentless kids again. I'm no preacher nor a successful artist, but I think if you're relentless enough to do or achieve something, you will most likely get it.
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How to find something you're passionate aboutSometimes we envy those who seemed to have found their peace with some object or activity that defines them as passionate. It's like someone or something cemented their feet that keeps them from wavering from a truth that they firmly believe. A friend who's into starting businesses; an officemate who preaches software architecture like he invented it; or even a roommate who listens to his iPod for twenty five hours straight, because he's really "listening" to the music - all of them exhibit some sort of passion. Fortunately for the rest of us, it's not as supernatural or divine as we think (I'm not talking about religion here ok?). It's a matter of trial and error, a series of experiences that led to funneling down to a belief that a person eventually comes to accept as universal. Here are some things that I suggest you ponder on to realize your passion:
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Knowledge of a certain domain - You cannot be passionate about something that you have little knowledge of. It helps that you have a good background or better yet, applied knowledge of the thing you think you're passionate about. If you can identify one already, you're more than halfway to realizing your passion. If you're having a hard time thinking one, the next item could be helpful..
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Range of interests - The more things you deal with, the easier for you to stumbling upon your passion. It's like going to the grocery and buying stuff that you don't really need, but you're willing to try. The more interests you're immersed with, the more chances for you to narrow down to a specific want. If you are however like most people who'd rather stay in one place and be content with themselves, you'd be missing the chance to unlocking the thing that you can commune with.
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Ownership - If you think you can speak about something as if you own it, you may be speaking about your passion already. People who are passionate about stuff tend to have that aura that they own that idea they are talking about. Or it is so close to their heart that they spill out "emotion" in their words and establishes a connection to their personal lives. This is the part which is most evident in a person who's passionate about something. Ownership also doesn't need to be vocal, you can be communicating it in written form (hmm, a blog perhaps?) or not communicating it at all (you're just selfish that's why haha).
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The Next Level - A passionate person will always go beyond the norm. He'd be willing to do more for the cause, and it will be unsolicited. If you find yourself doing something that you think deserves a little more attention and warrants more contribution than what it's currently getting, then you could be exhibiting forms of passion to something already. A person who is dedicated to his passion has this restless need to raise the bar even further.
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A Blissful Experience - The best way to explain a passion for something is when you cannot explain it at all. True, you can point to a specific point in your history how you came about the passion (of course it wasn't a passion yet at that time), but if you would ask yourself "why" you did it at that time, you'd be blurting out logical explanations that would define the "why". This is where we draw the line between logic and the unexplained. It is human nature to wrap our minds around something we don't understand, and in vain we give out false reasons and "made up" suggestions. As cliche as it sounds, the heart still stands as the ultimate meter with which we gauge the true meaning of being happy and content. If you find yourself being happy or content over some passion you can't explain, leave it that way :)
This is it for now, in the future I'll be writing about more senseless things such as..
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Why I turn down opportunities.-
It pays to be alone-
Everybody's afraid of the newbie-
Why music?-
I hate competition(If you find this article offensive or in any way incorrect, send your insights to whydontyoukeepit@toyourself.com)
