Passion is far too mercurial and nebulous. I encourage people to consider enthusiasms rather than passion. Passion comes and goes.
Enthusiasm, on the other hand, can be nurtured & fed, constantly revitalized.
It helps to think of enthusiasm as passion’s better behaved sibling.
Society is taught that passion MUST be present for decision to be made. If you lack passion, something must be WRONG.
Consequently, the “follow your passion” message is used a north star decision making mechanism.
Not only does a career have to be passionate, but experiences must be passionate as well. Nothing can be done without passion, and the rise of the IG influencer lifestyle shows an endless stream of people living a richer, better, prettier, more passionate life than yours.
If you don’t feel passion towards something, HOW can you LIVE? You’ll never find PURPOSE?
You might read this and doubt it, but my inbox and messages say otherwise
I am messaged by young people all the time who are afraid to take decisive action because they LACK for a FEELING that they’ve been conditioned to believe they need in order to make the right decisions.
Its insidious. It undermines intuition and wrecks emotional intelligence. It is another example of a relativistic lunatic world where reality must be wholly derivative of feelings.
“Passion trumps everything”
Or does it?
You do not need passion.
For a long time I have seen the mythology of passion take root in American culture, to the point that “finding one’s passion” is considered a legitimate question and concern of young people. How can anything be chosen without PASSION.
It would be obtuse to say passion is not real, it is.
But the premises with which it has been conceptualized and propagated are FALSE.
Passion for the longest time has been culturally presented as an intangible and romantic force, a “feeling” that arises almost spontaneously on exposure to the “right” thing that is DESTINY.
The language around it is fanciful to say the least, and corporate america and silicon valley have certainly seized the mythology and ran with it.
Every idea must be groundbreaking, every company must have VISION to CHANGE the WORLD.
Late stage capitalism has adopted the language of passion mythology and wokeness, and the message transforms into a might question that the adolescent individual must ask themselves, otherwise they risk their very PURPOSE for being.
This is all fucking contrived fucking bullshit
Romanticized, corporatized “passion” is a creation of end stage capitalism culture that seeds consumerism, FOMO (fear of of missing out), and stunts people emotional maturity, while undermining ones value system.
Passion as its shown today is a false god, its idol worship of an emotional state that many people never experience and very few every authentically feel towards their JOB.
Their job…
Their job which the Americana Dream needs you to have, to pay your taxes, ascend a hierarchy, buy a home, and keep up with the joneses so you can be HAPPY.
Happiness is the other bullshit myth you are sold.
The REALITY
The reality is that “authentic” passion is a middle and late stage emotional sentiment of fulfillment, pride, and perhaps something akin to love towards being COMPETENT in a particular skill or domain.
Most often, it arrives with a feeling of being of immense service to others, and its only fully felt after a long period of time invested.
Passion is BUILT, not found.
But what about the people that say they are PASSIONATE about their job???
REALITY CHECK AGAIN
The number of people who truly and honestly feel spontaneous “passion” towards something and KNOW that is what they want to do, they are very very few in number.
They are the MINORITY.
And here is dirty reality
The certainty that Passion gives to you creates its own structure of potential failure
If you truly know your passion from a young age, and its your destiny to become that thing, then your identity becomes contingent on BEING THAT THING.
This is its own double edged sword, as you may discover that
A) When you finally reach the credential/level/status, the victory is hollow and you are not anymore satisfied for it
B), your dream might have a very short lifespan (ie, a professional athlete, or getting FAMOUS in a field like film or music), and when your time at the pinnacle leaves, you are left with NOTHING. Self destructive tendencies and immolation set in as you don’t know what to do with yourself
C) You may flat out FAIL, and your reliance on passion will leave you dispirited and not caring about anything else
Passion has survivorship bias
And no one speaks of it as it would disrupt the mythos.
And finally, the obvious fact that no one speaks of….
Its EASY to be passionate when you are naturally talented at something.
If you have inherent aptitude for a particular domain of skill, you’re likelihood of enthusiams exponentially increases, and for obvious reason:
We do not enjoy doing what we are Not good at doing. And we immensely enjoy doing what we are good at.
Unlike motivation, where you need to “feel like” doing it, or passion, where you’re supposed to be experienced an amorphous but deeply felt love….enthusiasm is simpler, and more objective.
You may not feel ANY enthusiasm before engaging in the necessary work, but if you are an enthused mood after, then what you are doing is likely to be worth doing.
What does this tell us about passion ultimately?
–>The best mechanism for determining what to do with one’s career/profession/purpose is to explore what your natural talents are.
And if you do not have any natural talents that prove exceptional, then follow what you
-Enjoy working hard at
-Feel useful doing
-Compensates you well enough to reach financial independence.