Many people don't know what it's like to find their "passion." But what many people don't know, Is passion is not something that is "found." Passion is something you create.
The photo above is me at age 13-15
And in the spirit of Valentine's day, I feel that "loving" anything is a part of the holiday, And it doesn't necessarily have to do with anything related to relationships.
Stop Looking
Everyone sits and looks, and Some people spend their whole life looking for their passion. The thing they were meant to do in life, The one thing that gives meaning to everything they do.
This cannot be found.
Be Mindful
If you want to become passionate about something, Be mindful towards it.
I became passionate about art by accident.
Back in my elementary school days, I thought that artists were weird And stupid.
I felt it was a waste to sit and paint or draw all day. That paintings were just a waste of space in the world.
It's weird that a child that felt that strongly about art, Would one day become an artist.
In my early teens, I was bullied horribly.
At just 12 years old, I was suicidal and was on a downward spiral.
At age 13, I was addicted to cutting myself. And often thought about what it would be like to kill myself on an overdose of pills.
I spent most of my days thinking about death.
When setting up my classes for the year, They put me in an art class against my will. I was so angry and tried to fight it.
But they told me I had to take the class to fit the requirements for the school.
There were a lot of classmates in the class that bullied me pretty bad. My teacher would leave, And they'd throw my backpack around, Make fun of my boy clothes, And crumple up all my work. One day we had to draw a self-portrait, And of course, half the class made jokes that my ugly face would break my teachers camera.
Ironically, The camera started having issues after she took a photo of my face, Which caused more laughter.
The assignment was to draw the other half of your face, Easy enough right?
I decided to do my best to ignore everyone around me and focus heavily on my drawing.
I had never created a nice drawing before that. I was Mindful Of each pencil stroke, as I focused. Trying to mimic each facial feature that I have on the other side.
Something happened, For once I had fun drawing, It was enjoyable. And I showed potential to be good at it.
While I spent my whole life hating art, Giving it a fair chance and focusing on what I was doing, and learning to enjoy it. Gradually over the years became a deep and ingrained passion that I now have today.
Create Emotion
When you add emotion to something, Not only does it become memorable, But it can start to build a passion.
My passion for art developed when I channeled all the negative emotions and all the pain I was suffering into my art. And used that to relieve my pain.
We can do this in all kinds of ways, And it doesn't have to be negative emotions. You can try and be mindful of what you are doing, and try and turn it into a positive experience. It's like at my part-time job,
This will sound bizarre, But I am passionate about loading boxes.
I know... Weird.
But so many happy, Life changing experiences and moments that defined who I have become as a person, Happened in one of those dimly lit trailers while I was scanning and loading boxes.
A few years ago, I painted myself and took pictures, For fun!
You Can Turn Anything Into A Passion
Mostly! I'm not saying you can just "decide" to become passionate about driving If Driving is the thing you hate the most in the world.
But many people spend too much time "looking" for their passion, Instead of creating it with what they have.
What do you love about what you are doing right now?
How does the thing make you feel?
How can you experience more emotion from it?
Can you make the hobby, Task, Job more fun? Laugh a bit more? Use it to relieve your pain?
