September - Pursue a passion - or for the rest of us, think about what lights your fire!

September was all about passion. It's a word that gets thrown around a lot especially in relation to work. It's a refrain that follows us through from childhood to adult - follow your passion, what are you passionate about, do what you love, etc.

For some of us (me included) identifying what you are passionate about can be the hardest part. I'll admit I've often been envious of people that have found their purpose or passion early in life and stuck with it. The now Doctor who always wanted to study medicine or the Artist who took up Art History and now works in a studio selling their art.

I'm envious because it sounds easy, to have clarity of yourself in such a way that you can identify it and then act on what makes you most happy. It sounds easy and for some people it is - but for others it's not. ?

Or perhaps it's more a matter of luck in being exposed to the thing that really excites you at a moment when you are ready and able to engage with it.

Whatever the case this past months exploration was all about the pursuit of a passion.

I am passionate about these guys! My family <3

Now, I'm not a person that can hand on heart say that I know what I am passionate about so this month was a good opportunity to explore and learn a bit more about myself and interests. So I didn’t spend the month exploring my passion, I spent the month trying to identify what kind of things I am passionate about.

If you, like me, are overwhelmed by the idea of identifying your passion, Gretchen suggests you consider what you enjoyed doing as a 10-year-old or what you do on a free Saturday afternoon.

Exercise 1, 10 year old self: Once you get more than a decade away from turning double digits I must admit it becomes harder to remember what you enjoyed doing (note to past self - write more diary entries!).

On reflection, in Year 4 I enjoyed guitar lessons, reading (Harry Potter being the book that really open the doors to my reading interests), eating sausage rolls at lunch, and playing in the empty block next to our house with my next-door neighbour. I was a high achiever in all areas and always wanted to create the best report, essay, or math homework. I sang made up songs, was intensely interested in the world around me.

I wanted to be a meteorologist.

?Books and plants...could these be my passions?

So a few clues there, but not the glaringly obvious stamp of passion across any one area.

Exercise 2, current self: So I looked to Saturday afternoons (or really any down time I have) for more clues. I like to stay healthy through cooking and eating well and physical activities, I do puzzles, go on walks, read, tend to my plants, and listen to music. I dance.

I'm interested in systems and how they interact with each other and about how we try and make sense out of everything. I love the idea that I have so little control over how my plants grow but know they will do it anyway. Bundled up inside of everything there is so much potential.

Potential: having or showing the capacity to develop into something in the future.

A wonderful mentor and friend of mine, Eli Amdur Career Coach, Journalist, Writer, Keynote Speaker (if I remember correctly) has a copy of the famous painting La Clairvoyance by Rene Magritte. Magritte shares a self-portrait of himself painting a bird. But, as with all of Magritte's work, there is more to see. Not only is he painting a picture of a bird, he is using an unhatched egg as his point of reference. Magritte is painting more than what is right in front of him: he is painting the possibility, potential, the future.

When I thought about what I did as a 10 year old and what makes me happy now, it's not so much the things that I do but why I do them. A grow plants because I love exploring the magic that within every tiny seed there is a plant coming to life, I read books because I want to understand how the world works and broaden my knowledge, I do my best in every assignment or task because I know I have the capacity to stretch.

I love to explore my, and our collective potential, in many different ways. And with this realisation I did feel happiness - happiness to get closer to my 'why'.

The next part will be exploring what this means, probibly for the rest of my life.

So take a moment and reflect on what you like to do, you just might surprise yourself with the answers you find.?