You just thought of your genius as a stew. Now try thinking of it as a journey, a flow of energy, from the universe, through you, and back out into your world.
What flows in can be goodness, the renewable fuel from Chapter 3. It can be inadequacy and shame, the need to prove ourselves, the dirty fuel. It can also be both, in varying degrees.
As we’ve discussed, presence is one gateway to that clean, sustainable energy. Passion is another.
On our journey through life, our passions are the roles, abilities, and activities that generate energy and make us feel our most alive. They are whatever motivates and inspires us, lights our internal fires, and moves us to take action or create.
Everyone’s passions are different. For some, passions are something “creative” in the narrow sense: painting, playing music, writing poetry, etc. But passions can also be activities outside our traditional ideas of creativity or art: competing in sports, playing board games, running marathons, building model trains, reading books, going to the beach, or working in the garden. Hell, formatting Excel spreadsheets can be a passion.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to passion. Our passions are simply whatever sparks our inner fires.
We might think of passion as our fuel, a way for energy to flow in. With it fully engaged, we have the energy and motivation to continue along our path. Without it, we find ourselves depleted and weary, moving ever more slowly or eventually giving up entirely.
This is not an indulgence or “nice-to-have.” It is a key discipline vital to our contribution to the world. And it’s also entirely worthwhile for its own sake, for the way it makes our lives more beautiful and joyful.
In fact, that’s kind of the point.
You just thought of your genius as a stew. Now try thinking of it as a journey, a flow of energy, from the universe, through you, and back out into your world.
What flows in can be goodness, the renewable fuel from Chapter 3. It can be inadequacy and shame, the need to prove ourselves, the dirty fuel. It can also be both, in varying degrees.
As we’ve discussed, presence is one gateway to that clean, sustainable energy. Passion is another.
On our journey through life, our passions are the roles, abilities, and activities that generate energy and make us feel our most alive. They are whatever motivates and inspires us, lights our internal fires, and moves us to take action or create.
Everyone’s passions are different. For some, passions are something “creative” in the narrow sense: painting, playing music, writing poetry, etc. But passions can also be activities outside our traditional ideas of creativity or art: competing in sports, playing board games, running marathons, building model trains, reading books, going to the beach, or working in the garden. Hell, formatting Excel spreadsheets can be a passion.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to passion. Our passions are simply whatever sparks our inner fires.
We might think of passion as our fuel, a way for energy to flow in. With it fully engaged, we have the energy and motivation to continue along our path. Without it, we find ourselves depleted and weary, moving ever more slowly or eventually giving up entirely.
This is not an indulgence or “nice-to-have.” It is a key discipline vital to our contribution to the world. And it’s also entirely worthwhile for its own sake, for the way it makes our lives more beautiful and joyful.
In fact, that’s kind of the point.
This is an excerpt from my upcoming book The Antihero’s Journey: From Burnout to Real Contribution in Polycrisis Times. To read other excerpts, go here.
