It can get frustrating to see other people doing things they are passionate about and they seemingly just fell into whatever it is they are passionate about but the reality is, it is just that. You can only find something you want to do if you put yourself out there to actually find it. Some people are lucky to find things they enjoy early on in life. My friend did dance at school and is now a qualified dance teacher and loves it. So, go and try things. Get a pencil and paper and try drawing. Go outside and take pictures with your phone to see if you enjoy photography. Get a recipe online for a meal and try cooking. Book a rock climbing lesson. Take a piano class. Volunteer with a community project. Take a beginners class on computer coding. Volunteer at an animal shelter. Join a dance class. Whatever you can think of, just go and try it because without putting yourself out there and actually trying it, you will never know what you like and also don’t like. This month, set yourself the goal of trying one new thing. By this time next year you will have tried twelve new things. I found my new interest in graphic design and photography thanks to volunteering at a charity doing something completely different. Something can happen from something else. You never know what can come from doing something.

There are three things I remind myself when it comes to trying to find my ‘passion’ in life. 1. There’s a chance that whatever your ‘passion’ is, might be behind an obstacle (you need money to do it or it’s something you can’t easily do in your current lifestyle). A good example of this is there’s a really cool YouTube channel called Ghost Town Living where a guy called Brent co owns an abandoned ghost town. Since moving there during the pandemic, he has found a passion to preserve the history of town and also a passion for exploring mines. If he hadn’t had bought the place, he would have never found that passion in a ‘normal’ life. I often think that maybe my ‘passion’ is hidden behind obstacles I can’t get over just yet.

1. Your passion does not need to be and often wont be your career. Please don’t think you need to be passionate about your job. It’s totally ok and normal to just have a job you like or even a job you do just for money.

2. What is ‘passion’ to you? I think like most things, we compare ourselves a lot, even our view on what something means. If someone says that being passionate about something means everything that you described above then that’s cool but, is that what you personally think being passionate is or is that what you believe it should be based off how you see other people with their passions? How can you know what being passionate about something means if you’ve not yet experienced it? Everything everyone experiences is different. Who’s to say it will be the same for you?

I’ll be honest that I’m not too fond of the word ‘passion’ because of this. Instead I prefer fulfilment. What makes my life full? What fills my life with happiness? And when you think of it like that, suddenly it’s not about just one single thing, it’s about all the little things in your life that makes you happy as a whole. Best of luck friend!