Passion

Have you every found something that you were so interested in, so passionate about, that is became your entire life?  Unless that interest is associated with a particular career (health care, law, business, etc.), these pursuits can be labelled as frivolous and dismissed by those around us, whether they be parents, teachers, friends or strangers.

I’ve always known what my passion is.  I have been writing and telling stories since before I could even hold a pencil and my mom had to patiently copy my dictation.  Writing has always been part of my life in one way or another.  In high school I jotted poetry in the margins of my notebooks.  In university I sketched out novels in between lectures.  Even now I think of my projects on the go, which include a young adult novel, a stage play, a television script, an academic article and a short article for my department’s newsletter.

So why did I never follow my passion?  Why do so many of us fail to follow our dreams?  Because they’re impractical?  Unrealistic?  Frivolous?

In a recently posted TED talk at the University of Waterloo, Larry Smith spoke about why we will fail to have a great career.  He spoke of the excuses we make to avoid pursuing our dreams and the perceived obstacles that block our paths.

Perhaps it was this talk that initiated the train of thought that led me to my moment of realization, my epiphany.  I want to write.  I have always wanted to write.  Whether that writing will be on the more creative end, or also involve my passion for human rights and international development, I don’t know yet.  I only know that if I want a great career, a career I am proud of and happy with, I need to follow my passion.

Maybe this is something I should have realized in high school when choosing a university.  Or perhaps in university when choosing my majors.  Or even after my Masters when I was deciding which jobs to apply to.  Too late for second thoughts.  All I can do now is go out into the world and show everyone what my passion truly is.

Larry Smith: Why you will fail to have a great career

Refocusing

It is time for me to refocus.  I am more than ready to begin my career in international development, but I'm afraid that I have gotten wound up in the incredible variety of issues, organizations and approaches that define the field.  It is necessary for me to take a step back and think about what my passion truly is.  

I began my studies in International Relations knowing that the field of human rights was something that interested me.  Over the course of my education and travel around the world, I realized that although the rights of all humans need to be upheld at all times, it is the children of the world who most often are disregarded or taken advantage of.  Whether they are perceived as too young, too uneducated, too unable to be rehabilitated or too weak, every child has a life and voice and deserves equal rights as adults.

By coincidence or design, my studies and career have led me in the direction of labour law.  Although I seldom work directly with children at the moment, I have only recently completed organizing and facilitating a three-day program for youth over the March Break to teach employment skills and job search skills, including their rights when finding a job.  This truly brought home the fact that while I enjoy public speaking and workshop facilitation, my real passion lies in the research and development of policies that will make a difference for more than a few children at a time.  Educating businesses and corporations, advocating government changes, and promoting enforcement of policies already in place; this is where a difference can be made.

So begins my journey.  In  choosing this path I know that it may be longer than I like before I find a job and a career path that truly suits me, but I think I'm willing to take the time to work for it.

While this blog initially began as an assignment for my International Community Development classes, it will now be a record of my journey and of the steps I will take in pursuit of my goals.