HOW TO FIND YOUR PASSION

3 easy steps that will help you to find YOUR passion

Written by : Giada Combusti 

I always looked up to people who had found their passion; that thing that would keep them awake at night, that thing that they would do just because they loved it, that thing that would make them forget about time and space. 

For years I looked for mine, I travelled the world, I watched and listen, I visited museums, went to shows and art galleries but I never realised what I loved was just there under my eyes.

As I mentioned in a previous post A LIFE WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA, one of the main causes of me finding my passion was because I left the world of social media FB&IG, “the everyone distraction”.

DEPRESSION AND PREGNANCY

During my first pregnancy, I was diagnosed with depression, I had to see a doctor who helped me during this difficult time; not only I was feeling extremely tired, I just wanted to sleep all day long, and I was feeling hopeless, lonely, scared and I had very negative thinking. 

I couldn’t concentrate and everything seemed to be very difficult, sometimes simple tasks felt impossible, like reading a book or writing an email. Luckily before my first daughter was born, with the help of the doctor and my husband, I was feeling good, once again. 

When my daughter was 13 months we discovered I was expecting again.

After the first excitement I started to feel concerned, would I be feeling bad again? Am I going to have negative thoughts? 

This is when I decided to act upon my fears and I went to the stationery shop and I bought some pencils and a notebook, I wanted to draw to ease the pain, to feel focused on something I enjoy, to create something beautiful that would make me happy. This is when a new beautiful journey was about to begin. With drawing I found my passion, the thing I would do all the time if I could, the same thing that makes me forget about time, my safe space where I feel in full control, my peaceful space and no matter where I am or how I feel, my sketchbook is always with me and I know that whenever I give it a chance I can feel balanced, happy and content. 

HOW DID I FIND MY PASSION?

I believe in life if we want to find our passions or a stress-free life, we need to create space; a constantly busy person, a person who when possible use their phones as a distraction is very unlikely that they would find it. 

By leaving social media I allowed my mind to have more space, peace, less concern and more intentional living.

With my little girl, we went through lots of books and lots of artwork sessions and while working with her I realised how much I loved the smell of the pencils the touch of the paper, and the joy I felt looking at certain types of drawings and also the satisfaction I sense when I completed a little drawing… I was enjoying all this. I could have spent my time with my d.d watching tv ( which we never actually own ), scrolling my phone but no, I opted for something different and authentic, something that would allow us to be creative, to create a stronger bond and to be focused in a pleasant activity. Many studies show that creativity is good for our well-being. Brittany Harker Martin, an associate professor, leadership, policy and governance with an arts education specialisation at the University of Calgary, said in “Brain research shows the arts promote mental health”.

EVERY MINUTE METTERS :

Sad to say, but I rarely received help since I am a Mother, although I remember every single time I did had an extra hand, soft, kind and encouraging words  ( I sincerely treasure it inside my heart); the majority of the time I and dearest husband had to go through things alone, and from time to time we had to endure negligences and lots of criticisms on how we do things.

By saying this I would like to make clear how, as homeschooling parents, it is challenging to keep everything under control and how our free time is limited. 

HOWEVER every minute matters. I remember at the beginning of my drawing journey while being a breastfeeding mother with a 2 years old girl to look after I would sketch at the kitchen counter while cooking! I would read before bed ( forget about Netflix and stuff ), I would wake 2-3 hours before everyone else to do the things I loved, I would bring my camera with me whenever I was out with the kids and practice, practice and practice, and I would write down little beautiful phrases that would come up to my mind. Did I have a day to express my creativity? Certainly no. Did I have someone who guided me? No. I create those moments out of nowhere and those moments brought me back to life! 

I encourage you to focus on the things that matter in life and to live those moments of freedom (such as lunch break at work -while queuing at the bank – before going to bed ) to nourish your creativity, to nourish your soul. 

Every little moment matters! 

Here’s how my journey led me to have a clear vision about finding my passions; 3 easy steps to discover your passion 

RECONNECT TO YOUR INNER CHILD, SEARCH FOR THE THING YOU LOVED THE MOST WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE

Photography, books, drawing, writing and spirituality have played a significant role in my life since an early age, and those are the things I feel strongly passionate about and interested in. So I reckon that our passion is very often something that already has touched our lives in one way or another. For instance, my dad is passionate about photography, and I remember looking at his pictures of our family and friends with much admiration. Religion was one of my favourite subjects at secondary school as I was very interested in knowing other people’s faiths;  I always drew little doodles whenever I had a pen and paper. 

So I encourage you to look at the things you used to like when you were little. Perhaps your grandmother was knitting and she taught the basics and you loved it but never really got into it because of other factors, start playing with it again. Maybe there was a subject at school that you were particularly good at, try and look into it explore it and see how it goes. 

Possibly when you see someone doing something specific like working wood you feel a kind of attraction, just got for it, take some classes read some books about it and it may happen that you will find the thing you were meant to be doing but never took the time to think about it. My brother at age 27 started to take piano lessons and sooner than expected was able to play Chopin! So, it is never too late!

Just try.

FOLLOW YOUR HEART AND DO THE THINGS THAT MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD, CONNECTED AND AT PEACE.

Don’t think about what people might say about your new creations or hobby, people will ALWAYS say something so you may as well do something that you love. Be brave and follow your heart. Just go for it. 

PRACTICE MAKES IT PERFECT.

The more you practice something the more you become better at it. Is inevitable. I am nowhere near being Leonardo da Vinci but who cares? I love my drawings and they make me feel good and this is what matters! We must start somewhere and even if you never tried that thing this doesn’t exclude that one day, you could become extremely good at it!

To be quite honest, I would feel rather empty without my passions, those things are part of who I am they help to go through difficult times, connect to my inner self and make me feel complete and I encourage you to try out those things you always postpone because you didn’t think you were good enough or because you never created time for it. 

It’s time to take our lives to the next level and to start to be doing what we were meant to be doing. Answer that calls now, follow your heart, don’t be afraid and just go for it! Life is a short journey and I strongly believe that although we might face difficult moments from time to time, we must work on ourselves to have a more meaningful existence I believe creativity could be a way to connect ourselves to a higher realm.

I hope this was helpful to someone

With Love

Giada