I think it's curious that we take the idea of a guiding passion for each human as a given, that we believe it's reasonable or admirable to be guided by a singular, unified idea which is somewhat unique to each individual.
At some point in recent history in the West we started using the narrative of passion in relation to success and happiness. We've developed an ideal that people ought to be passionate. Some people, many people, are simply not passionate people, but I don't feel as though that has any relevance on their "importance" in society. Why has the level of passion a person feels become part of the metric by which we value people? Personally, I feel as though it's because we call "passion" often translates into financial success, in which case "passionate" just serves as a euphemism for wealthy.
Furthermore, it's easy for us to imagine that we are passionate about something, only to realize a year later we were tricking ourselves all along. It seems in tech we often misconstrue passion for something a little more akin to an addiction to work because we want to be passionate people, but many of us simply arn't.
Reminds me of a book, So Good They Can't Ignore You, which goes to great lengths to argue against the idea that "following your passion" is a good way to be successful. Very much recommended.
"Regardless what I’m trying to say is that if every aching bone in your body wants something and you are willing to give up everything to get it you will find success more often than not."
Cute. Many passions do not translate into any kind of financially sustainable careers. Not everyone is passionate about angel-funded SaaS companies and online marketing.
People say this because we are enjoined to "do what we love", find our passion. Well, what's so wrong with just doing something you like? Nothing (IMO), but it doesn't sound good. "Complacent" and "content" are dirty words.
The flipside of working in a field about which you are passionate typically goes unremarked upon - sometimes the realities of the job can destroy your love/passion for the thing itself. It's very sad.
My grandfather worked on machines in a factory his whole career, accumulating so much knowledge about the machines that he could know what was wrong with a machine just by listening to it. Then after he retired, companies kept hiring him as a consultant, flying him out to solve their problems. Of this he told my father, "All those years working with my hands, I should have been working with my head." I get to do that, and I have my whole career. I try not to lose sight of the value of that.
At some point in recent history in the West we started using the narrative of passion in relation to success and happiness. We've developed an ideal that people ought to be passionate. Some people, many people, are simply not passionate people, but I don't feel as though that has any relevance on their "importance" in society. Why has the level of passion a person feels become part of the metric by which we value people? Personally, I feel as though it's because we call "passion" often translates into financial success, in which case "passionate" just serves as a euphemism for wealthy.
Furthermore, it's easy for us to imagine that we are passionate about something, only to realize a year later we were tricking ourselves all along. It seems in tech we often misconstrue passion for something a little more akin to an addiction to work because we want to be passionate people, but many of us simply arn't.