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Do you have a passion?

Sleepy

The classic piece of advice to a young person wondering what to do with themselves in life is always to "find something you love doing and find someone to pay you to do it" but, despite this being so obviously the key to a happy life (and something I really wish for my kids), most of us end up doing fairly humdrum jobs to support our ordinary lives.

While I've had many hobbies and interests over the years, my attention has never really stayed with any of them. Even if you simply graphed my posts on boards you'd see trends waxing and waning in Fitness, Photography, Politics, Films, TV, Music, Travel etc.

Maybe I'll come across my great passion at some stage, but at 33, it's likely I've already spent a third of my life without coming across one (let alone one I can turn into a living) so I think it's quite unlikely.

How about you AH? Anyone have life-long passions and, if so, have you managed to turn it into a sustainable source of income?

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anniehoo

seamus wrote: »

Indeed, I've heard the opposite said by a lot of people - if you make a living out something you love, you may end up hating it..

So true.

<---My passion is animals and nature (go figure

) and my job is animal related, but totally different than what I thought I'd end doing as a kid. I have actually made a conscious choice not to go too far down the road of any area I'm involved in (job, rescue work, research, etc) as I have seen too many people "burn out" and literally HATE what they are doing.Far too many.

I've been accused of "not being ambitious enough", "sitting on the fence", "not passionate enough","not a real animal lover"...blah, blah, blah, from the very people who seem to be genuinely miserable about what they are doing in relation to animals.

I still love my job (13 years later), I love and hate the volunteer work i've gotten into (hate it because of the bad stuff you see).

I definitely need to up my game with keeping up to date on current knowledge and research (seriously lazy with that), but anyone who knows me, knows this area is my passion.

steddyeddy

bluewolf wrote: »

Yes, I never did music full time partly because it would take all the fun out of it

Do you ever regret not doing it full time?

[Deleted User]

steddyeddy wrote: »

Do you ever regret not doing it full time?

Nope

uch

Just My Wife and Kids

ONeill2013

No, I have a good amount of interests but if someone said they would give me 1 million £ I would give them up in the morning.

Kagawa10

I only got a passion for flashing open your eyes and imagine the good life

Call Me Jimmy

The only things that make me tick are childhood ones. Art, more realistically graphic design. I love the theory of it because I believe it is the perfect mixture of natural laws / structure and the infinite variance of the human mind.

Football. Played it all my life growing up until hit with mental illness which I haven't recovered from which has seen me almost completely living the life of a recluse. I will never forget the joys of running around a pitch and playing a great pass.

Comedy. In my limited social life it's always been my 'thing' to make people laugh. I wouldn't be known for it as much now, again, mental illness, but with people I'm comfortable with it's all I'm interested in - havin' an ould laugh. I have a memory as a kid from senior infants where one of the girls in the class was crying and even at that age I was called on as the class clown and did a funny news report (well was probably funny for a 4 year old).

Acting. Did it once when young and I still think it's the single moment of my life that I enjoyed myself completely doing it. I managed to portray Will Smith in the sixth class play. Now that I think of it I wrote most of the play as well. Good times!

And finally, the outdoors. Having this yearning for faux-freedom because of my isolation so camping and hiking would be cool but I haven't done either yet.

NegativeCreep

I think I found my passion by accident. Didn't know that I had put the course that I'm in now down (did the cao while leathered) and now I've found that I've quite the passion for it! I hope there's jobs in pharmaceuticals for ever

Sinfonia

seamus wrote: »

Indeed, I've heard the opposite said by a lot of people - if you make a living out something you love, you may end up hating it.

A graphic designer for example, will eventually find themselves creating by-the-book stuff for conservative clients which neither challenges or interests them. By the time they get home they no have energy/enthusiasm for working on hobby pieces.

I guess there's probably an in-betweeny bit - when you start out, you're free and you do what you want. Then you get a job and you have to do what other people want you to do. But if you push past that or you get really lucky, you make a name for yourself and once again you get to do what you want, except this time people will pay you for it.
Many people probably get to the second part but then get bored and disillusioned and never get back to doing the good stuff.

Bill Watterson made a speech in 1990 to a graduating class, and recently another artist turned it into a Wattersonesque comic:
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18yg0u592h8qgjpg/ku-xlarge.jpg
(lyk if u cryd xx)

herisson

History is my passion. I've loved it since I was a kid and studied it in college. I would love to work in a museum and preserve the old documents. I'll have to wait a few more yeas until I can go back and do it.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Passion, passions in no particular order.

Motorbikes, weight training & Judo.

Sofaspud

Music, but the technical side of recording / sound engineering, so I can keep work seperate from my writing / performing hobby.

My first college course was in software, but after a year and a half I realised I hated the idea of doing that for the rest of my life.
I quit the course and signed up for a Sound Engineering course starting a few months later.

I've now got a diploma in Sound Engineering, and am about to start my final year of a Sound Technology degree.
I'm fully aware that it's a "useless degree" that won't help at all in the industry, but I'm there for the knowledge and experience, not a piece of paper.
It's an industry that really involves getting the finger out and making real effort to find work, so I've already made a bunch of contacts, have 2 years of live sound work and some studio experience under my belt, and a possible job lined up for when I finish my degree.
The ultimate goal is to start my own business and have some freelance live sound work on the side as a hobby.

Tigerandahalf

irish bloke wrote: »

A passion for beautiful women and fine wine. Sure that's what it's all about at the end of the day

And tell us irishbloke I suppose the closest you have got so far is a laptop and a bottle of buckfast.

ONeill2013

Sofaspud wrote: »

Music, but the technical side of recording / sound engineering, so I can keep work seperate from my writing / performing hobby.

My first college course was in software, but after a year and a half I realised I hated the idea of doing that for the rest of my life.
I quit the course and signed up for a Sound Engineering course starting a few months later.

I've now got a diploma in Sound Engineering, and am about to start my final year of a Sound Technology degree.
I'm fully aware that it's a "useless degree" that won't help at all in the industry, but I'm there for the knowledge and experience, not a piece of paper.
It's an industry that really involves getting the finger out and making real effort to find work, so I've already made a bunch of contacts, have 2 years of live sound work and some studio experience under my belt, and a possible job lined up for when I finish my degree.
The ultimate goal is to start my own business and have some freelance live sound work on the side as a hobby.

I'm training to be a camera operator myself, have done a bit of sound engineering but it's not something i enjoy.

Legs.Eleven

There's a good few things I enjoy but a passion? Not really. I've started so many things in my life that I never followed through, mainly because I wasn't naturally talented in any of them and gave them up of frustration/pride.

I bought a bike there a few months ago and I'm on it a lot and I'm considering saving and splashing out on a really, really good one this year. Could see myself getting into cycling in a big way and going on cycling trips and stuff or cycle around Ireland for a few weeks.

kylith

NegativeCreep wrote: »

I think I found my passion by accident. Didn't know that I had put the course that I'm in now down (did the cao while leathered) and now I've found that I've quite the passion for it! I hope there's jobs in pharmaceuticals for ever

That was probably the best way to do it. Drunk You put down what you genuinely wanted to do, not what Sober You thought you should do.

GonzalezT1000

Legs.Eleven wrote: »

There's a good few things I enjoy but a passion? Not really. I've started so many things in my life that I never followed through, mainly because I wasn't naturally talented in any of them and gave them up of frustration/pride.

I bought a bike there a few months ago and I'm on it a lot and I'm considering saving and splashing out on a really, really good one this year. Could see myself getting into cycling in a big way and going on cycling trips and stuff or cycle around Ireland for a few weeks.

In order to gain a skill in any discipline it requires going through a period of frustration, those who persevere despite the frustration have often yield great dividends. If you look at the accounts of masters of disciplines throughout the ages they all got there through hard work and discipline. "Natural Talent" if such a thing exists is a much smaller factor than people think.

Einstein, Leonardo, Van Goeth, John Coltrane, Cesar Rodriguez, Darwin etc... There was nothing inherently special about any of them, they merely accessed a creativity and genius that is inside us all potentially. The hard part is putting thousands of hours of practice in learning your craft, once that groundwork is put in, then something special happens and you get access to the genius inside you.

NegativeCreep

kylith wrote: »

That was probably the best way to do it. Drunk You put down what you genuinely wanted to do, not what Sober You thought you should do.

Maybe so :L guidance counsellor wasn't too happy though :pac:

Call Me Jimmy

GonzalezT1000 wrote: »

In order to gain a skill in any discipline it requires going through a period of frustration, those who persevere despite the frustration have often yield great dividends. If you look at the accounts of masters of disciplines throughout the ages they all got there through hard work and discipline. "Natural Talent" if such a thing exists is a much smaller factor than people think.

Einstein, Leonardo, Van Goeth, John Coltrane, Cesar Rodriguez, Darwin etc... There was nothing inherently special about any of them, they merely accessed a creativity and genius that is inside us all potentially. The hard part is putting thousands of hours of practice in learning your craft, once that groundwork is put in, then something special happens and you get access to the genius inside you.

Exactly my sentiments, well yours...

Celly Smunt

I used to have a "travel passion",through ryanair i could travel every weekend to some new European destination and see some of the sights.I can't think of a major city in Europe i haven't been to now.Then i started to branch eastwards and hit other countries and had a ball travelling everywhere.

Now,i can't stand the thought of going to the airport,and all the cities i've visited now sometimes blend into one.Even the smell of the perfume section in Boots turns my stomach as it reminds me of the Duty free.

It's really sad to lose a passion,especially travelling.I have some amazing experiences,but now i feel like i've nothing left to do.

Kagawa10

Choose Life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a ****ing big television, choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol, and dental insurance. Choose fixed interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose leisurewear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire purchase in a range of ****ing fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the **** you are on Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing ****ing junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, ****ed up brats you spawned to replace yourselves. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin' else. And the reasons?

bodice ripper

I love to draw and talk ****. I am a tattoo artist. 'Nough said.

Ruu

I love to run (ultra distances) and travel so travel about the place and include a running event at the same time. I only took it up 4 years ago. If I could make money at it, I would be in a good place right now.

lukesmom

Yeah and it only comes out at night

Legs.Eleven

GonzalezT1000 wrote: »

In order to gain a skill in any discipline it requires going through a period of frustration, those who persevere despite the frustration have often yield great dividends. If you look at the accounts of masters of disciplines throughout the ages they all got there through hard work and discipline. "Natural Talent" if such a thing exists is a much smaller factor than people think.

Einstein, Leonardo, Van Goeth, John Coltrane, Cesar Rodriguez, Darwin etc... There was nothing inherently special about any of them, they merely accessed a creativity and genius that is inside us all potentially. The hard part is putting thousands of hours of practice in learning your craft, once that groundwork is put in, then something special happens and you get access to the genius inside you.

Wise words. Just wish I could have that mindset.

I like reading a lot! And travel!

Passionate about either? Meh! I really like them!

playedalive

A definite passion of mine is foreign languages. I love learning languages and find it amazing when I can express anything I want to say in the language without English. I'm trilingual (Spanish and French). I also have a working knowledge of Irish.

Though I went to study it in college and it kinda disappointed me that it wasn't focused on actually learning the language and culture. But hey ho, I'm still planning language no .5. to learn.