Do you feel as I do? Are you inundated with messages exhorting you to pursue your passion, find your purpose, and develop your hobbies? Last week, I attended a meeting at a senior center with a group in our sixties and seventies. A pastor urged us to find our passions and make retired life zing.
The pastor found hers by developing a program uniting older folks with at-risk children in two shared missions: reading literacy and growing a vegetable garden. Slides of happy faces filled a screen as we watched this cross-generational group rake, hoe, gently plant seeds, and mark each patch with colorful packets that bragged of the carrots, green beans, and zucchini to come—a genuinely feel-good viewing experience.
During a coffee break, my friend Joe took me aside to express his misgivings about what he calls ‘passion pursuit pressure.’ “I’m tired of being barraged by messages telling me what to do. I’ve worked my entire life, and now I want to play ball with my sons, listen to music, and liberate myself from projects.” I grinned with the relief that comes when someone articulates sentiments I’m reluctant to express.
According to Stanford University research, many people are tired of the pressure to ‘pursue your passion.’ When applied to work goals, this advice can even hamper success.Aiming too high for ideal work satisfaction may prompt people to set unreasonable expectations, which impede simple work pleasures and dampen natural curiosity. Finding what captivates us at work and in our personal lives is a high enough bar.
Passions are lovely to feel but are not a daily phenomenon. Forbes writer Julia Korn says: 1) We don’t have only one passion in our lives.
2) Passions change with time. 3) We don’t always know what they are.
4) To pursue one’s passions is a message for the privileged few, not afforded to all.
On a walk the morning after the pastor’s talk, I pondered this dilemma: Should I pursue a passion project or not? But my morning brain was reeling from bad news in too many arenas: 2024 political battles, wars in Ukraine and Israel, and the erosion of kindness and grace among people with opposing views.
Figuring out a new favorite passion project felt like undue pressure. What if I can’t find one, I wondered. Does that mean I’m failing at passion?
Suddenly, I looked up at a splendid Kousa dogwood tree featuring glorious white blossoms, each resting on its own dark green leaf — like a supportive palm, a loving embrace. I calmed. My breathing slowed. My shoulders relaxed. I returned home to reread a favorite poem by Andrea Cohen: First Thought Best Thought I’m three or four, Hidden in the branches Of the cherry tree. I don’t ask: how did I get here? I don’t fear falling. The job of the blossom. Is to bloom, to be Beautifully unschooled in ruin.
Please tell us your feelings on passion projects by emailing press@goleader.com or pattisteckler@gmail.com.
