I take pictures, and I love doing so, but it’s not my life.
I love to travel, and I love adventure, too, but those are not my life either. And I love writing, creating things, and making people laugh.
These things are simply pieces to a much larger puzzle to me. Something that I am more passionate about.
And that is using the unique combination of these, and other skills I have, to make a meaningful and significant positive difference in the world.
But there’s no job title for that.
So no, I don’t really want to be a “photographer” or a “writer” or an “artist”. I truly love these things, but they are simply pieces of something else.
And I have always, always felt this way. I have always felt like I was trying to fit into some premade mold.
While it can work and satisfy many, it doesn’t work for all.
I see the mold. And I can make the mold work. I can even be comfortable in the mold.
But no matter how comfortable I get, I will always feel like there is so much more that I can do.
Not not just “can”, but “should”. That my purpose isn’t to indefinitely play a role that someone else has written. That my purpose is to create my role and then live up to it.
And I know I’m not alone in feeling this way.
I’ve done the “one thing” multiple times. My journey was funded by the one thing. The one thing was comfortable, I did it well, and I could have done it forever, but it was never truly me.
Sometimes life isn’t just about finding that one thing you can do and then doing it the best that you can. Sometimes it’s about taking the individual things that you are good at and using them in a way to create something that is much larger and more powerful than the sum of its parts.
Synergy.
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” — Vincent Van Gogh
It’s not easy. But I’m convinced it will be worth it.
Supplemental Reading:
- Refuse to Choose!: A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything That You Love
- The Renaissance Soul: How to Make Your Passions Your Life-A Creative and Practical Guide
Related:
- Offsite: Neil deGrasse Tyson: Be Yourself
- Why “follow your passion” is not bad career advice
- Offsite: What do you desire? – Alan Watts (video)
- Offsite: How will you recognize your passion when you encounter it?
- Offsite: Why you will fail to have a great career: Larry Smith at TEDxUW
- Offsite: Follow your bliss and don’t be afraid…
- Offsite: You’ve got to follow your passion
- Your heart’s desires
- Offsite: Excerpt from Paulo Coelho’s introduction to “The Alchemist”
- Offsite: You will know you’re on the right path when the process enthralls you
