A torch in the road.
I went to a dinner party.
To get all the guests talking, the hostess asked us to each talk about our individual passions.
The responses were the expected stuff.
Music. Art. Writing.
And many were of the past.
What we decided when we were going to college.
What’s your passion?
And, by the way, how can there be just one?
A lifetime is a long time. You change.
And even if you followed your passion in your career, what happens when you retire?
The people at this party were over sixty. Not really working anymore.
What’s going to happen to their passions? Do they even think about them anymore?
And, God forbid, what if they’re bored with them?
I don’t think passion is what gets us through life.
It burns bright. For a while. Like a flaming torch by the side of the road.
But then you drive past it. And keep going.
You say it’s your passion. But you haven’t dabbled in it in a long time.
Long term, passion is not going to cut it.
So… I’m on team curiosity.
Lead a curious life. Taking you from one potential, shorter lived “passion”, to the next.
That way, you won’t drive past that flaming torch and have nothing to look forward to in the journey ahead.
Curiosity is for the long road.
It might trip you up in answering the dinner party question.
But hey, curiosity is about constantly reframing anyway. Isn’t it?
