A few months ago, I heard a life-changing speech by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of the book Eat, Pray, Love, about passion and curiosity.
The speech changed how I saw my life, my future, and it changed my goals. As college students, sometimes we feel pressure to have a passion and to know exactly what we want to do for the rest of our lives.
So whenever someone asked me what my passion was, I was frightened to answer: I do not have a passion.
After Gilbert’s speech, I began to ask myself if it was okay not to have a passion, and where can curiosity lead me. I’ve always been a curious human being interested in photography, history, literature, art, travel, languages, and I want to learn about all of them; however, I never had that burning desire that drove me crazy, that did not let me sleep. Because of this, I felt incredibly insecure.
Nevertheless, the night I watched the speech, I had an aha moment about something Gilbert said: “Instead of that anxiety about chasing a passion that you are not even feeling, do something that’s a lot simpler, just follow your curiosity.”
That night I understood that curiosity was the key. Curiosity makes life a diverse, rich, and exciting complicated journey. Without one specific passion, it does not mean that we are lost, and if we are, as long as we are not lazy and keep pushing and fighting for new opportunities, we will get somewhere and have a successful life.
Fighting for those opportunities, we can build an enriched and complex life. It is not an easy path to take, for it’s not a clear straight line. Actually, it’s more of a bumpy road, but with magnificent directions. Until we find that one thing that makes us crazy, we must always head in a new direction.
Being curious means we can try, learn and experience new things. But more importantly, we can enrich our life daily. If you are studying medicine but you love writing, do not give writing up. Do both and wait for life and its opportunities and look closely for its clues and you will get where you are supposed to, not where society wants you to be.
Today, I am incredibly proud to say that I do not have a passion. I found through curiosity, a key to a life of wonders. We have the power to choose our own life purpose. It is okay not to have a passion: feel free to make your own life path.
