Your passion doesn’t appear in a flash. You probably won’t find it on that service trip, or the gap year, or in college, or in your internship, or with the help of your life coach.
You might never find it if you keep looking so hard.
We tell ourselves the myth that one day we’ll just know. We’ll find ourselves in some situation and suddenly our passion will be clear. Then, we’ll be able to wake up every day living an emboldened and passionate life.
If you’re waiting for that, it might be time for a new approach. I think passion comes from listening to our lives and deliberately testing hypotheses. You might be in love with the idea of becoming a professional photographer. Instead of dreaming about it, go out there and test it. Don’t wait for the aha moment when all the lights become green.
The next day you should shadow a professional photographer to see if you like the work after seeing it behind the scenes. You should talk to others in the business to learn more about the job before you commit to a pipe dream.
If it turns out that photography isn’t for you, that’s a small win. It only took two days to figure that out rather than dreaming about it for five years. Now, you can go on to try out something new. Passion comes from experimentation and small tweaks, not from a swooping declaration.
Keep trying new things. Listen to your life and test drive your passions. The more you try, the closer you’ll get.