Frankly Put: Where Passion Meets Profession
There comes a time when passion and profession meet and they don’t seem to fit into each other and I fear that one day, I may look at the distance I have come and realise I have to walk a fraction of it again because I took the wrong turn.
I find it very thought-provoking when the first response to someone finding out that I write is, “Oh, and do you make money from it?” I do not fault them for the mentality, I mean, it’s what we grow up in. An understanding that’s only a product of our upbringing. Where is the novelty of being good at something without seeking remuneration for it?
They say “If you are good at something, never do it for free,” and I agree. Granted in the ideal world in my mind, I would want the opposite. The possibility of thriving off of the fact that you are really good at something without the need to put a price tag on it and sell it to those who appreciate it. Like, oh you are a great artist, please go on and create without giving your work value by the number of zeros it gives you back.
In school, the lecturers would pose this question at the beginning of every learning cycle as part of self-introductions; “What’s your name, something you’re good at and why do you want to do Architecture?” Now that I think about it, maybe that would have been a great way to find out about children’s ambitions. It’s a bit of a note worth pondering that some job markets can be saturated and yet we all struggle with some problems regardless of whether you are employed or not.
If we could find and guide children, beyond the dreams they have, towards a problem they could solve… maybe the world would be different. Yes, that little boy wants to be a football player. Maybe you don’t see it as a career that would take him far but why shut him down yet every Sunday you are in a bar screaming at your favourite team? Yes, that little girl wants to be a singer. Maybe the market is not as profitable but don’t burst her bubble when every time you wish to relax, you are opening your music library to jam out to some tunes.
I think it’s the irony to this whole thing that when this is being done, it is done with the benefit of the child in mind. Yes, a safe, secure and comfortable future is always the goal, I just wonder what it means to be in the hands of a doctor who was only doing it because they were forced into it. What is it to be in a structure an engineer, who is only there because it pleases their parents, built and approved? What is it like to have someone writing laws when they only followed their parents’ instructions?
I am grateful for the opportunities offered by my parents to dig into the facets of life that piqued my interests. Through that, I think I was able to learn how to dig around and find where my soul could settle. The saying goes, “Water always finds its level” and I fear for those who walk around without peace of mind because there is still turbulence within them. The mind is always trying to figure out what they are good at.
What’s my point? I think that there are cases where profession never has to meet passions, where passions become professions and where professions become passions. I am learning to rewrite my reactions when someone tells me what they are doing in life. May you not just do what you are doing because it is required to put bread on the table. May success find you where you are most passionate.
There are people who look happy in their places of work but get home and the misery just washes back in. There are people who look tired and miserable but when they work they feel the most fulfilled, even before the paycheck comes in. I would like to get to and live in a space where I can gladly say I enjoy what I am doing with my life, regardless of stress or drawbacks.
So the next time I am asked to speak to people getting ready to shoot out into the world, I think that is where I will start. No one can help everybody but everybody can help somebody and if what you can do offers that help with the least amount of effort, do it.
Perhaps, what you want to do is not out there but in the way you choose to approach life. Maybe you aren’t actually a good football player but you are one heck of a tactician and team leader — what can you do with that? Maybe you aren’t the greatest singer but your confidence and voice can command a room — what can that do for you?
Maybe you are not great at your academics but there is something in academia you can carry forward into something else. Your work may not be great but you may be a great worker. Let not those harvesting scare you into thinking that your planting of trees will not be what is needed. One day, when you are in the shade, they’ll visit to enjoy your forest.
I think somewhere between a problem you can solve, your passions and ability lies your vocation and perhaps your profession, to put it Frankly.
