We’re told to “find our passion,” as if it’s hiding under a rock somewhere, just waiting to be monetized. But what if passion isn’t the point? What if the real fuel — the thing that keeps life interesting — is curiosity? Restless, unpredictable, occasionally obsessive curiosity.
You’ve heard it a thousand times:
“Find your passion. Chase your passion. Be passionate. Make your passion your job, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Or some such nonsense.
These kinds of slogans get tossed around like motivational confetti. Those things are easy to say, easy to share, but mostly hollow. I’m not saying there aren’t people who genuinely love what they do for a living. There are, and that’s wonderful for them.
But for most of us? That’s rare air, the tail end of the bell curve.
The truth is, I don’t have a passion. Or if I do, I haven’t been able to find the damn thing.
What I do have, though, is something I think might be better: insatiable curiosity.
I question. I wonder. I challenge. I research. I learn.
And then I do it all again.
“I don’t want to believe; I want to know.”
Carl Sagan
I may not have a lifelong calling, but I’ve had plenty of passionate flings with a wide range of interests, and I plan to have many more.
Music. Baking. Science. Homebrewing. Painting. Literature.
Some of these relationships last longer than others, but all of them leave their mark: neural pathway builders, synapse lubricators, assumption challengers.
What I truly fear isn’t boredom or failure. It’s losing my curiosity.
I shudder at the thought of not caring to know more; of losing that spark that makes me ask why? How? What if? I never want to lose that feeling of awe that comes from realizing how much there is to learn, or the humility that comes from knowing I’ll never understand it all.
I may never “do what I love” for a living, and that’s perfectly fine.
As long as I never stop learning, as long as I never stop being amazed by the world and the people around me, I’ll be content.
Perhaps curiosity is my passion.
What about you? Do you chase your passion, or does curiosity keep you moving forward?