This is a subject that comes up quite frequently between my Husband and I. See, there’s a reason why I always use “passionate” to describe myself. I go head first in new passions like nothing else matters. Some have been part of my life for as long as I can remember, some are more recent. But to him, you should not make a career out of your passion, which shocks me every time he tells me so.
A few months ago, we watched the episode of “Chef – Pastry” about Christina Tosi. I love and admire her. Ever since I discovered her creations for Momofuku’s Milk Bar. She is passionate, she has that fire that almost died but that she did not let. It brought so many thoughts
Making art
When I was a kid, I used to make jars of colored salt and gift them to my family. I would sit down for hours, colored chalks, salt and empty yoghurt glass jars in hand, a newspaper covering the table as protection. I used to paint outside of my grandparents’ house as my Grandma and Mom were gardening. I was always doing something with my hands, maybe because I grew up as an only child and needed to busy myself. I wrote stories. My imagination had no limits.
Making art is not just about painting something, because you know as well as I do that creativity as various faces.
Also, once I started recording my process to share on Youtube, I discovered another passion: video editing. You guys: I have SO.MUCH.FUN editing my videos. Finding new ways to convey my stories, my creativity is always good for my Soul… so why not make it my job?
Reading
I don’t know at what age I was able to read by myself, but books have been in my life for as long as I can remember. The feel of paper and being transported into other universes and people’s lives is something I crave. Books are my escape route. Reading is what I do when I want to cut myself out of my own life.
One of my go-to Soul Care ritual is actually pretty simple: run a hot bath with Epsom salt.
I recently decided to go back to the beginning and quietly opened both an Instagram account (Bibliobibuli) and a book blog. It’s not filled yet, but it is a work in progress.
I would love to receive book for reviews. Putting it out there 😉
Cooking
Food has always been a big part of my daily life. I have all these pictures of family events focused around meals. This is not a cliché when we say that Frenchies are being social around food. We can spend hours at the table, not even necessarily eating but catching up, joking and being around loved ones.
Cooking brings back memories of me, my Mom, my Grandma, my aunts and even some of my uncles, together in the kitchen. Me on a stool, in charge of mixing whatever it was. These are found memories of my days as a kid.
At 18, after my career plan A didn’t work out, I started cooking school.
In France, right after our 1st daughter was born, I created the blog ABC-Cooking and even though I left right when I could become something out of it, it was quite big and is a project I am still proud of 14 years later. I am re-opening an updated version, called Nova’s Kitchen (Nova=Me), simply. For now, I write in French but I might make it bilingual.
Fitness
Living fibromyalgia (officially since 2011) is teaching me a lot about myself, and about my body.
See, I hated PE at school. I was quite bad at it so I was relieved to be exempted of it for my last two years of high school.
After two years of depression when I was diagnosed, I reached a point of no-return: I either continued drifting away, or had to make a change. Change it was. I started walking in our neighborhood for 15 to 40mn everyday. It was so hard at the beginning because I was heavy, and in a lot of pain. But fibromyalgia is like a vicious circle: the less you move, the more it hurts, the less you want to move…
Not too long after we moved to Québec, we signed up for Orange Theory Fitness. It is an hour-long fitness class that is both HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and cardio. I knew nothing about this but it felt right. We were going 3+ times a week and I loved it. Pushing what I thought were my body’s limits became an obsession. Seeing results was a bonus.
How do I define my true calling, then ?
After reading what I just wrote, I realize that a lot of these passions were there when I was a kid, but abandoned at some point in my life.
Them coming back so strongly, when I least expected them, is what proves to me that I can’t escape them. I just can’t… So what should I do with all that?
I realized when I started trying to build a career out of my artwork, that it demands a lot of self-discipline, to be outgoing. It became too much pressure (put there only by myself). My creativity got blocked as a result. And that sucked! Sending my pieces around the world make me so happy, it is not even just about making money out of it.
I don’t have an answer to this question so I am open to your thoughts and input.
I see so much of myself in this post. Perhaps it’s an “only child” kind of thing. Who else was there to entertain us, if not ourselves.
I can’t imagine having a career that isn’t based on a passion. That just sounds awful. I always tell my kids that if they do something they love, they’ll never work a day in their lives. Having said that, since starting my art business which I am passionate about, there sure are some really grinding days doing the business stuff that does feel like work! Lol
Possible it is an only child thing. I remember talking with a friend and she told me she, too, has to find ways to busy herself on her own. And yes, I believe that even if you love what you’re doing and earning money for, there are always tasks that are less pleasant than others.
Good heavens what else is there to make a career from except our passions???
I loved reading about your passions! You are so interesting and sound like so much fun.
I haven’t learned the art of editing videos yet but yes I can imagine it would be fun. I’m learning how to post a video to my You Tube channel. I hope it gets easier.
I hope you keep having fun and staying curious. This makes life worthwhile, don’t you think?
I absolutely believe you are right! I don’t see myself building a career around something I am not passionate about; sometimes though, the need to make money out of it takes the passion away (says my Husband). Which I understand. But… no.
Video editing gets easier the more you do it. And I have used like 4 different types of software, from the most basics when I started out, to more advanced today.
Nolwenn recently posted…Is it possible to have “too many” passions ?
I can totally relate to that fibromyalgia vicious circle – I think we might have written about similar things today!
I also have lots of passions. I sometimes worry that having several means that I’m scattering my energy about to much instead of focusing it all on one thing but mine are also pretty much lifelong and feel part of me.
I am the embodiment of being scattered LOL but I have made peace with it, I guess. And I give different time and different energy to each of them (reading is for the morning, after my daughters are gone for school and before I start my work days, and for the bath. Creativity is what I try to make a career out of and what asks the most of me. Cooking, I do with what I actually cook for the family (but sometimes, will cook something specifically because I want to talk about it, or test it out).
I know we can make all of them work, somehow.
I too have a lot of passions, and often feel pulled in many directions. I have the habit of starting projects, so many projects. I don’t always *read as I never* finish them. I must look into that, after I do this thing, or that thing. I think I just love learning new things, and once I’ve learned them, I want to learn something new.
How do you feel about starting projects without finishing them?
I hear you on the learning thing because learning is part of my mission in this life. I need to know more and more.
Me too. I feel like a jack-of-all-trades kind of person because I have so many interests. I was thinking maybe I’m ADHD or something, but I’ve started researching about the Creative Personality and it is 100% normal for our tribe 🙂 My blog post about it should publish in the next couple of days.
ahah there is not a week that goes by without me telling my husband or my mom “hey, could I have ADD ???” because I often feel scattered and all over the place…
This is so great to see this other side of you, other than the art side! I say go for all of them! Make some your hobbies and some your work. Living passionately is what make living worthwhile. xo
I tried to give them up (not all at the same time, but still). They always make a comeback, so I guess I have to stick with them 😉