Passion: do what you love and love what you do. I’ve heard this simple phrase so many times, but lately it has been making me question whether or not I actually “walk the walk” when it comes to “wearing” my passions in my daily life. Maybe you have thought about this, too? Are we participating in activities that energize and excite us? Or, are we walking down a runway that appears to be safe and stable, yet we are stumbling as we attempt to stay in a straight line?
Photo by Studio Eiler @studioeiler
“Passion” seems to be such a loaded word when it comes to finding what drives us, but it really doesn’t need to be when we think about how it relates to our daily lives. I reflected on my younger self and how if there was something that brought on excitement or interest, I did it. There was no analyzing whether or not any of these choices were the best uses of my time, and there was no comparing myself to what others were doing; I simply did what I enjoyed and I made decisions to change parts of my life that I did not enjoy. So why is it so difficult for me as an adult to invest time in things that I enjoy and that I love?
Awaken Your Inner Passionista
Have you ever said to yourself, “I need to find my passion and do it more often” at some point in your life? The more I continued to say these words to myself, the more I realized that there are a couple of things wrong with this statement. The first mistake is that there should be an ‘s’ at the end of the word “passion.” We don’t have just one passion in our lives, we have many. Some might be stronger than others, and those might be what we wish to invest more of our time in growing, but our lives are full of passions that we might not even realize are passions yet!
Which brings me to the second thing wrong with this statement: You don’t necessarily need to find your passions, because you most likely already have an idea of what they are, but might not think of them as passions. I realized that my passions are surrounding me every day and I am choosing to ignore them.
Why?
Maybe a part of me doesn’t feel like these passions are a “good use of my time.” Or, maybe I feel that they are not taking me in a particular direction. What direction you ask? I have no idea. A direction that leads to a “practical” destination that I honestly can’t even visualize, but somehow I know that doing “that thing” will never get me there, so why do it? Another part of me is comparing myself to others, thinking that how they are spending their time is more practical than how I am spending my time.
(Insert sigh of frustration)
If my younger self could see me struggling back and forth with these dilemmas and comparisons, she would be a combination of confused and frustrated. That girl would never think to stop doing something that she loved just because it didn’t appear to be moving her in a particular direction. She would do it without thinking because it made her happy. She would make it into something greater for her life. She would not judge herself or compare herself to others. She would embrace that passion and she would talk about it like it was gospel, because in her life that’s just what it would be. I know that I might sound like I am being harsh on myself, but I truly feel like this reality check needed to happen sooner rather than later!
Puzzle Pieces of Passion
Passion is what makes up the pieces of your heart, and I am currently an adult putting those pieces of my young passionate heart back together so that I can wear it proudly on my sleeve. Your passions are the aspects of your life that you see value in putting time into, and that lead to excitement and inspiration. A passion is not necessarily something that you are doing every single day or that is making you money. A passion is something that simply engages you and makes you feel like you are being true to yourself. When you are “wearing” your passions on the outside and showing the world what makes you who you are, you are your most fashionable self.
Some of these puzzle pieces are small, and some are big. To me, passion makes up your sense of self. It exhilarates your soul, but at the same time brings you peace of mind. Your passions might not necessarily relate or play off of each other, but what they have in common is you.
If you are “looking” for your passions, look towards your mind, soul and heart. What are you thinking about in your free time? What do you become excited to talk about or do? When you say, “I can’t wait to have time to _______,” what is the root of that blank? Pay attention to the shows you’re watching or the podcasts you’re spending your time listening to, or the books you’re reading; there are hidden pieces to your “passion puzzle” that are just waiting to be discovered and put together. Be mindful during small moments of your days and your conversations. Your passions could range from certain aspects of your career, to writing poems or music in your spare time, to finding new ways to improve your health and stay active, or even conversations over chips and salsa.
Hold up. Are you thinking, “did I just read the words ‘chips and salsa’ and ‘passions’ in the same sentence?”
Yes you did. Seriously, this was one of the things that I wrote down when I was brainstorming my own passions for this post. I could literally sit ALL day and eat chips and salsa. Then I stepped back and thought about why I love eating chips and salsa so much.
What I discovered was pretty amazing.
Of course I love the spicy taste of the salsa and the delicious crunch of the chips, but when I visualized myself eating chips and salsa, I realized that there was always someone with me: my mom, my husband Chuck, or one of my friends. I was never alone. I realized that what I really value out of eating chips and salsa is the long, meaningful conversations with the people I am with, and building relationships with others. By listing out what seems like a simple recreational activity that I enjoy doing and digging deeper into it, I found a passion for conversation and company that I can “wear” in other areas of my life.
Okay this might seem like a really weird example, but I challenge you to try this activity! List out some things in your life that you absolutely LOVE to do, and then ask yourself why you love doing each activity. Get to the root of what about it you are really interested in, and why it makes you feel the way it does when you are engaged. Do you watch HGTV religiously? Maybe you have a hidden passion for interior design, or you see yourself flipping a house one day. It’s possible, and I have a close friend doing it right now, totally self taught!
When you take time to do what you love, you radiate a sense of self, and uniqueness is always in style.
We are a very visual society. While we put emphasis on who individuals are on the inside, it’s still a known fact that we also place a lot of attention on what’s on the outside. I want to present this “outside view” in a different way. I strongly feel that what is projected from the inside through our personality and our mood should be a part of that outside appearance, and at the root of this outside “look” are our passions. When you are doing what you love and putting your time into something that is of value to you, you are giving off an energy that is unique to you and your attitude towards life. Everyone’s “passion fashion” looks a little different, but your passions are really the best pieces of “clothing” that you can wear!
“I have nothing to wear!” -every single person at some point in their life
I’m going to be realistic here and say that some days or even seasons of our lives are going to be less fashionable than others when it comes to our passions. We are all going to go through times when certain parts of our lives take priority, and that’s okay. Sometimes following our greater passions even take us down a less glamorous path than expected. These are the days when we might feel like, “we have nothing to wear” when it comes to being a passionista, and we might even question our passions.
The important thing to remember is to keep walking and continue to embrace the passions in your life that are meaningful and make up your unique self.
No matter what your runway may look like at the time, never stop thinking about what engages you, what sparks your creativity, and what you value most. Continue to walk while sprinkling in small pieces of passion in your daily life, even when life gets crazy. Just like fashion, your passions can evolve with the times instead of going out of style completely!
Walk Your Own Runway
Once you put the pieces of your passions together – whether they are subtly hidden in the ways you spend your time or they are screaming at you in bold rainbow colors – wear them! Walk your life’s runway wearing your passions with confidence every day. Participate in your passions with passion. Appreciate how they contribute to your unique self. Embrace your smaller passions, whether that involves curling up in bed with a hot chocolate and a good book, or talking over chips and salsa with your closest friends and family. Celebrate your bigger, undeniable passions, whether they align with your career, or they take you on another path towards a hobby that you wish to grow into something greater. Recognize these joyful moments and invest your time and energy into evolving them into bigger pieces of your life. Your passions are all around you, and life is too short and unpredictable not to participate in these moments and create a life that you are engaged in and absolutely love.
Now go rock that runway, passionista!!
Wishing you zest & light,
Stephanie =)
Passion is the most serious part of living your life, passion for being with your wife or the person you love the most, passion for playing the piano with no one around, passion for tasting a great bourbon and listening to classical music . passion for watching your children grow up and forge their own roads in this world. Passion for a morning cup of coffee with the sun shining or even on a dreary day, passion to end the day watching a beautiful sunset and passion for doing my best today and trying to make the world a better place. Passion to learn new things. Passion to live and want to do it again the next day and the next day after that. Passion is living your life to the fullest by enjoying and engaging in all those things you are passionate about. Great article, it makes you think. The above are just some of my immediate thoughts after reading your post.
This made me smile when I read it. These are the types of passions that I think we (or at least I) so often dismiss as being just everyday moments of my life, but they are MY everyday moments, and I choose to do them because I am passionate about them, just as you do with all of these special things that you listed! We should never dismiss these moments as being ordinary. We should engage our senses and enjoy them. Thank you for this comment! It is truly special!!
Oh, I LOVE this! When you find something that lights you up inside, I find oftentimes others don’t understand. It’s like having a secret with yourself!
Lynn, I love how you said, “It’s like having a secret with yourself!” It’s so true!! We can radiate with happiness in these moments without anyone even knowing, and sometimes that is when we know that we are truly happy-when we experience something like that with ourselves. Thank you so much for reading!!
We are in this world to do what we are passionate about, most people are worried about making a living but they don’t live. I realize what my true passion was but I knew I wasn’t going to make so much money out of it and was scare to do it. But once a made up my mind and decided to go for it I have never been happier and felt better emotionally. We only live once and we should love it
Yes, money is definitely sometimes an obstacle when it comes to going for your passion and making it into something greater. Sometimes the path is a little less glamorous, but if we truly want it, we CAN make it something big!! I’m so glad that you made up your mind and decided to go for your passion and pursue it to make it into something bigger. I’m sure it made you feel better emotionally, and that is SO important. Thank you for reading!!
This is a post I need to ready EVERY DAY! I have really been questioning lately if I want to stick with blogging. I love writing, I love fashion, and it’s a great way to have creative expression, however I am spending a large amount of time focusing on the my daily “views” and how many “likes” I have gotten on Instagram. I have taken time away but I find myself gravitating more towards the views and likes. I started my blog so I would have a space to be myself and I think I need to get back to that place, and space!
Girl, I hear ya!! I’ve gone through times like this, too, and I forget why I started blogging in the first place. Actually when I started blogging, I wasn’t even thinking about social media; I was thinking about my writing. I had no idea how the two were connected with promotion and marketing. I definitely feel like I need to get back to the heart of my passion which is my blog and my writing, and appreciate it for what it is and how it makes me feel. Keep blogging and doing your thing for you!! Your blog is a joy to read!! =)=) Thank you for reading, Julia!!
Yes! I absolutely loved this post, stephanie!!! Passion is so important and if you are not passionate about what you’re doing, your life will lack joy and the people involved in your life will also sense the lack of joy. I think this is such a hard thing about our job… I love my job, but there are many days that I get so upset with things and feel like I don’t know if I still enjoy it. It is a fine line sometimes to feeling that way and feeling like t is no longer your passion. I was having this feeling a little this summer and after listening some amazing TED talks and Manny Scott, our guest speaker for SPS this year, I can now see that my passions are still there! I have found some other things that I am very passionate about this summer and I am excited to see where they will take me! Thanks so much for such a lovely post! I really love how you write!
Thank you, Erin!! Yes, I totally agree that a lack of passion will also result in a lack of joy on the outside, which can definitely be sensed. Sometimes all it takes is something small to inspire you and to set fire under a certain passion in your life, and it sounds like some of these TED talks and this amazing speaker that you’ve talked about did just this for you!! Sometimes we need that extra fuel, and that’s okay! I am also excited to take some of these passions that I have discovered over the summer and see where they take me =) So happy that we have each other to talk to about all of our passions and things that excite us! Thank you for reading and for your positive feedback!!
My Passion is for writing and I’m glad you found yours. Keep up the good work!
Thank you, Chad!! I’m so glad that you have found a passion of yours as well! Thank you so much for reading!! =)
Love !!! Need to read this frequently!! Thank you!! Writing is clearly your passion!! Thanks for sharing!!
Thanks so much, Melissa!! Writing is definitely one of my passions, and I’m thankful to be rediscovering it at this point in my life =) Thanks so much for reading!! Love you!
Once again, a great article Stephanie! What I love about your blog is that you make people think, question and challenge themselve. Keep up the wonderful writing….this is one a wonderful passion!
Thank you, Nancy!! I am so thrilled to hear that you feel that my blog is doing these things for my readers =) I definitely feel like I am also questioning, thinking, and challenging my own self more just by writing these posts. I appreciate this feedback so much! Thank you for reading! Love you!
The passion in this post about passion reached out and grabbed me and is so riveting and wise! Important to read and re-read!!
Wow, thank you so much, Mary! I am so happy that it touched you in this way!! I appreciate your feedback so much =) I definitely feel like you and I have a lot to chat about still when it comes to following our passions! Thank you for reading!
I enjoyed reading your post and even chuckled at the chips and salsa. But absolutely see what you did there and your love for them. It’s their link to special memories.
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Nailil! Thank you for taking the time to read my post! Yes, chips and salsa bring so many memories to my heart, and they make me realize just how much I enjoy my time with others and the long conversations with friends and family =) You never know where you will find your everyday passions!! Thank you for stopping by Citrus & Sun!
Stephanie, I put off reading this one until I had time to actually absorb and think about what you would be saying!
Your passion for writing is evident..this one in particular made me stop about my passions. The chips and salsa made me realize coffee to me a passion. Coffee makes me think of times with my dad and mom before starting my days years ago, Also makes me think of close friends that have moved on to different places in their lives.
Life is good!
Judy, I love your connection with coffee and the memories that you associate with it from you past and your friendships. I know how much you love to start your day with a nice cup of coffee and reflection; what a special passion that truly helps you appreciate this life, both the present and the past! It’s so fun to find these hidden passions in our daily lives that we participate in every day! Life is definitely good!!
I love your take in this! “walk your own runway!”
Thank you, Jem!! I am glad you liked the analogy =) Thanks for stopping by Citrus & Sun! Have fun rocking your runway!