14 Jul Finding Your Passion
In the spring issue of A Magazine, we took spring cleaning to the next level with an energy audit. We purged the negative energies, habits, and people which were troubling our lives, and it felt great to shed all of that baggage!
Now that we’ve made some space in our lives it’s time to fill it with positive things! One of those positive things should be something you feel passionate about. For many of us, it’s been a long time since we gave any thought to our passions. So just like the spring audit we’ll walk you through a few steps to get you started.
What did you want to be when you were a kid?
It may not quite be possible to cultivate a hobby as a ninja-astronaut or princess-mermaid. But if you used to spend hours drawing and painting when you were little, why not take it up again? You’d don’t have to be the next great American artist or set the goal of having a gallery show by next summer. Pick up a notebook and some colored pencils, set aside an hour to two a week, and draw like you did when you were a child: just for the fun of it! Whatever the activity is, get in touch with what you enjoyed early in your life and try to approach it as if you were a child again. Don’t worry about doing the thing well or having a specific goal, just play!
Try something new
Have you always secretly wanted to learn French? Or maybe you think ballroom dancing sounds sort of fun. Take the time to try something completely new, and you might discover a whole new passion! Just like with the last exercise, the point is not to be brilliant at something right off the bat. Instead, you’re looking for something that sparks your creativity, and that you enjoy doing for it’s own sake. It’s easier now than ever to dip your toes in a new hobby without a big investment. Youtube how-to videos and Groupon deals can help you try on a few different hats until you find something that piques your interest.
Put that Vision Board/Pinterest Page/Journal to Work
If you’re the introspective or creative type, you might have already started this process. Do you keep a journal, vision board, or use Pinterest? Take a look at what you’ve been writing/pinning/saving and really examine what’s there. What are you attracted to? What interests you enough that you’ve made a board for it, or dedicated pages to writing about? If you’ve been spending hours scouring Pinterest for gardening tips or sewing patterns, maybe now is the moment to bring that fantasy hobby into reality. That vision that you’ve been too busy, too timid, to tired to try is already waiting for you. It’s time to give it a try!
Not quite ready to dive in yet? That’s okay! Start slow. Try filling out this questionnaire from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Choosing a College Major by Dr. Hanson. While it was originally designed for incoming college students, the principle of getting in touch with your passions is the same at any stage of life. With questions about what skills come easy to you, what your values are, and what type of volunteering you’ve done in the past, this is a great way to bring your inner voice to the surface.