A Passion For Others
We're in a world where it's easy for us to create our own side hustle in addition to our day jobs, myself included. I've done direct selling with beauty products and I even created a "company" name - Frances Print - for my graphic design work. I believed in the products I sold and enjoyed being able to create beautiful, fun print pieces for my family and friends, but neither opportunity was fulfilling enough to commit 110%.
I asked a choice few people in my life to tell me what THEY think my passion project would be, and was thrilled when all three of them had one common denominator:
"Giving back and helping others achieve their goals."
There's no company name or product to sell for this passion, but instead, it's a way of life. Personally, I've found I'm most passionate about staying active while running outside to selfishly be able to eat as much pasta as I want in addition to clearing my head after stressful days. It's my "me time" that also brings about some of my best ideas; you can ask my old boss, as I used to leave him post-run (and work) voicemails with items I wanted to brainstorm or discuss the next day.
I run more consistently when I'm training for a major race, but when I started to get into the races it was hard for me to justify signing up to run long distances without running for "a reason." Yes, obviously some of the reasons I run are mentioned above, but to spend $100+ for every race doesn't sit right with me. For me, running for a reason - more specifically, St. Jude Children's Hospital and the American Heart Association - has allowed me to give back to special people in my life by raising monies for their plight. They motivate the heck out of me to stay focused and understand the bigger picture. When I ran the Marine Corps Marathon last October, I created a "mile dedication" note to keep me rolling through the race.
There isn't any true particular order (i.e. I had just started dating my boyfriend at the time; that sweet man will definitely get a full mile for my next race!), but I loved grinning like an idiot or digging deeper when I glanced at my miles throughout the race, especially mile 14 when I started the second half marathon portion of the race and remembered that the children (specifically Jack, who is still battling cancer and isn't even three-years-old) are the real heroes and reason I run.
Running for a reason is most certainly a passion project.
The same passion of doing something for others fuels my professional career, too. I did not go into academics to make money - that's for sure - but I know my career journey led me to this particular service because it is so rewarding. Sometimes my desire for students to learn drives ME to anxiety because I don't want to waste their time, money, energy if I'm not providing the service they truly need to succeed.
Enter: running.
See how this has come full circle?
For me, my passion projects make me who I am and help me recenter when I'm off balance. I only hope everyone has the opportunity to find a project, person, side hustle, gift that they are most passionate about at some point in their lives. In the meantime, do what feels right and best for you - the passion will definitely follow.
#PassionProject #StudentVoices #TeacherVoices #Imbrogno18