The Passion Project

March 17th 2017

I found that as a child I had my “passions” handed to me.

I worked and worked at things that I thought I was supposed to love just because that is what my mom put me into and what my friends were doing at the time. But sadly, no amount of “I ❤ Gymnastics” or “I’m a Cheerleader” t-shirts could make me feel any more passionate about what I was doing. I was doing those things because they were there and I did have fun with them, but there was no passion.

Obviously, as a child you’re not really thinking in the realm of passion and what true passion really is. As a child you’re thinking about “what is fun and allows me to hang out with my friends the most?” As I got older I began to realize that enjoyment and passion existed on totally different planes. I enjoy plenty of things that are not my passion. I really enjoy drawing and dancing, but those have never really been my passions, just things I do on the side when I was feeling antsy and in need of something to do.

It wasn’t until I dove headfirst and joined a yoga studio that I knew what passion to it’s fullest extent, truly was. Passion is doing something not because your bored and not just because it’s there and convenient. Passion is waking up in the morning and making time for the thing you love to do. Passion is making it work even when it is not convenient. I wake up for yoga at 6:30 AM every morning not because I have to but because I genuinely want to.

Writing is also another huge passion of mine and I only really started publicly pursuing it quite recently. Writing has always been cathartic for me and when I decided to share my love for it with other people, it only increased my passion even more! Spending hours before and after work and school working on something that makes me feel genuinely fulfilled makes the entire day as a whole more fulfilling.

Seeing how these two passions make me feel brings me to my newest personal project, “The Passion Project”. So as I was sitting around thinking about my life and where it is going and what I hope to get out of it, I realized that some of my passions have barely seen the light of day in years. I really can’t adequately explain why these passions have been in a dark corner so long, but the only person I can blame is me honestly. Film and photography have been two things I have spent a large portion of my life incredibly passionate about, however, I find that I neglected them quite a lot over the past few years.

So, the purpose of “The Passion Project” is to help me resurrect these dying passions and give them new life. I am going to challenge myself to take more time out to explore both of these creative mediums and turn them into something I can be proud of.

I urge you, if you have neglected your passions, work hard and show them you’re still there.

Jess