Finding Your Passion

Life is about passion. Even from the very beginning as a child, it seems we always are thinking about which passion suits us best. As a kid, we are very much influenced by what our parents do or by what we see on TV, especially if it looks “cool” at the time. The idea of what we wanted to be as a kid is likely to change quite frequently by the time we reach adulthood. For example, when I was a kid, I wanted to be a pediatrician. This was influenced by playing with my baby dolls and my fischer price doctor kit. As I grew into a teenager, I realized that the mathematics and chemistry courses required to be a doctor were not made for a mind like mine. I wanted the venture into the helping professions without having to handle that heavy course load. I decided at 18, that I wanted to go into the field of counseling/social work. I pursued this field of study in college, and even for a short time, I even went beyond the bachelors degree and decided to go for my masters. College for me was no walk in the park. I had to work very hard, and I had to be very careful to keep my grade point average (GPA) on the higher side. After all, I had goals to be accepted to the Tulane School of Social Work, which was ranked in the top 40 in terms of social work schools throughout the nation. I would accept nothing less and WOULD go to school in New Orleans. If you know me well, you know if I have my mind set on something, I am bound and determined to get it done. In case you are itching to know, yes, this dream came true. I was accepted to Tulane and would begin classes there in the fall of 2009. Surprisingly, as hard as I worked to start my journey at Tulane, it was here that I find out that I wasn’t exactly suited for social work either. I was only at Tulane for a semester before my loans were denied for a second semester. I was upset at the time that that happened, but now as I am older, I consider it as a blessing in disguise. I never went back to school to pursue social work any further because It was not right for me. Deciding to write like I do now look some major soul searching and self reflection. When deciding what my new found passion was, I had to consider what would work well and cater to my physically limited (This is especially important in present day) lifestyle. I could not do anything that could expend especially large amounts of energy. I had to find what fit me perfectly. I first delved into writing when I was around 17 years old. I guess you could say I was “testing the waters” by writing poetry that was based on my dreams. I ended up showing my work to many teachers in my high school who ended up being very impressed with the work I had shown them. Even at that time, I had many people tell me that I should consider writing as a career. You see, though, I was so broken at that time in my life. I didn’t believe in myself, much less the other comments other people were giving me, especially if they were in the slightest bit positive. I was officially in depressed mode. It took me many years to soak up my writing talent and realize that this is what I am meant to be doing. In 2012, I joined the Yahoo! Contributor Network. These pieces were read my professional editors and then subsequently published. This really spiked my passion, and I then decided to write on my own. This is when I discovered the self-publishing company Blurb books, where I would write both my first and second poetry books. (2012 & 2014). In this present moment, I am a blogger and working on my life story. Writing is something I really love doing. In fact, I love it so much that I do not consider it a job. Writing starts on a blank canvas and with your imagination, you create something that is uniquely yours. It might take some time to figure out exactly what it is you want out of life, but once you do, It is the most independently empowering feeling you will ever feel!