Living your passion will challenge you.

Photo: Дмитрий Хрусталев-Григорьев

The other night my boyfriend had a dream where the little people stole his paintings.

He’s a landscape painter and we are stuck in the middle of winter so there haven’t been a lot of days for him to go outside, follow his passion, and paint this month. I can tell it wears on him, sucking the enthusiasm out of him day by day as he spends more and more hours designing websites and writing content for his clients when he’d really rather be outside painting.

So he had this dream where the little people showed up, stole his paintings from his studio and he spent most of the dream chasing them around. He told me this the next morning over coffee and wondered what I thought of it. I’m no dream analyst but what seemed really clear was that he felt robbed when they took his paintings and in the dream all he wanted was to get them back. I asked him what purpose his paintings served and he stopped dead. He stumbled over his words as he flubbered through something that sounded halfway believable but I wasn’t buying it. Why? Because there wasn’t any passion in what he told me. Nada. No fire, no life nothing that ignited a spark while he was talking.

YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW YOUR PASSION.
AND TO DO THAT YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHAT THE HELL IT IS.

When winter sets in, and you find yourself stuck in the rut of work, work, work, or your enthusiasm for whatever it is that you create in your life has gone underground, that’s when you take yourself on a discovery walk

Grab a journal and something to write or draw with, yes, even if you don’t write or draw well. Then go walk around long enough to find a place where you can sit quietly and think. Start on the second page of your journal and jot down a list of things that make you smile or laugh- these are part of your passion. Next, write down a few things that make you feel successful. Lastly, note a few things that are really important to you. Now read over what you have written and give yourself some time to sit with all this information. I’m a fan of sketching or doodling during this process so go ahead, jump in a do a few doodles or designs while your brain is making some meaning for you.

*Jump to the end of this post for a free design to colour in and get you started.

Grab your journal or sketchbook and get yourself some outdoor inspiration!

What do you know now, that you didn’t know an hour ago?

What is your heart’s desire, your passion? Still don’t know, just guess at it for now.

Now, get off your butt.

Give yourself permission to follow your passion for at least 30 minutes a day and watch what happens.

When we allow ourselves to live our passion, we increase our sense of well-being, increase our happiness level, and start to engage with other people in more meaningful ways. We also lower stress, feel calmer and are able to think better. All good stuff!

Give it a try for 7 -10 days in a row and check in with yourself about what you notice. Like what you see? Keep it going for 30 days or more and you’ll see long-term benefits that might just knock your socks off!

Go forth, live your passion and watch your whole world change!