“Follow your passion” is a very popular piece of advice, but it’s less practical than it seems at first glance.
Exploring what we're curious about rather than what we're passionate about makes much more sense.
We often associate passion with geniuses. With scientists who spent their time reading books and taking notes from the moment they woke up until the end of the day. With writers who constantly created worlds while everything else had to wait. Or with athletes who practiced a thousand times with enthusiasm until they achieved their goals.
These geniuses were clear about it. Their passion spoke to them, dominated them... and they had no choice but to obey it.
Following your passion doesn't sound so good when you have to apply it to your daily life. Sometimes it's there, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes there are entire periods when passion, as such, doesn't appear. There are many people who simply cannot say what their passion is.
Feeling like something is missing because we don't have a passion can cause a lot of anxiety.
Am I the only one? Is it weird that I'm not particularly passionate about anything? . *Spoiler alert: no.
It also leads us to wonder why we do what we do if it's "no joke." The result is a feeling of demotivation and apathy.
If we allow ourselves to be carried away entirely by a routine (which does not satisfy us) we feel like spectators of our own life.
Instead, let's be the actors.
When we spend some time being mere spectators, we forget our desiring side. The one that gives us the drive to create and live with more spirit. And so the advice to “follow your passion” works even less.
The writer Elizabeth Gilbert, proposes that we forget the word passion, which is often surrounded by an air of mysticism, and in an act of self-pity, follow our curiosity.
Curiosity simply asks a simple question: "Is there anything that interests you?" Anything? Even a little bit? […] Curiosity will ask you to turn your head and look a little closer. Do it. It's a clue. It may seem like nothing, but it's a clue. Trust it. See where curiosity will take you.
Gilbert's advice seems very sensible to me because Every human being is a desiring being and, from birth, curious.
If we didn't want anything, we would have no reason to act. So, consciously or unconsciously, desire is what drives us.
But, as we've seen, desire doesn't always feel like a burning flame. It can also present itself as a small, flickering light. If we follow it, we'll discover whether we like the path it leads us down enough or not.
What are you curious about?
Do it.
Be the main character in your life's play. And in the spirit of curiosity, keep in mind that you don't have to become the best, or an expert, or change jobs, or anything. You just have to give yourself the opportunity to experience the things that interest you. This way, you'll enrich your routine and your life.
Instead of actively pursuing our passions, let's tune inwards and let us pay attention to the (always available) curiosity.
