Hey you,
How is everything going on your end? Things here are fine – did I tell you I’m moving to London this month? I know – BIG STEP, right? What have you been up to? How is the photography going?
Well, the reason I’m writing you is because I’m reading this fascinating book. It’s by one of my new role models Danielle Laporte and it’s called, “The Fire Starter Sessions” (I highly recommend you buy it here!).
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Edited using “Scarlet Love” Photoshop action at 100% ( of the Confidence Collection). Make it yours today!
I know, you’re probably rolling your eyes at my self-help, inspiring book list, but this is something I really feel like I want to share with you. So hang in there :)
In the chapter I’m reading she discusses passion (we all know my love affair with passion). She says,
“There’s being obligated to run hard versus wanting to run hard. There’s duty, and there’s passion. And you can’t fake passion. Passion will always move you in the direction of your authentic self.”
And then she asks,
“What if instead of looking to our genes, our social class, or the expectations of the household we grew up in, our whole educational system focused on each chid discovering his or her very own (passion)? The model would be one of eliciting and evoking, rather than molding and configuring. What if every individual was considered a mystery to observe and support, rather than a vessel to fill with outside information? Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?”
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Let me repeat that last part in case you skipped over it. She says,
“Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?”
I KNOW, RIGHT? This just felt revolutionary for me to read, because it’s something that I relate to and something that I see in the creative world every day.
I feel like in my teen years I was so aware of what I “should” be doing, and embarrassed by what I actually wanted to be doing, that I ignored all of my inner desires altogether. Deep down something was always pulling me to images, to design, to the internet etc.. etc.. but I didn’t want to face it head on, I just wanted to look the other way and hope to be the version of myself that I thought everyone wanted me to be.
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The worse part is that looking back, I can see that I was totally wrong on my idea of what people expected of me. It was just me limiting myself to what I thought they wanted of me. It was pure fear. I am actually lucky enough to be surrounded by people who encourage me and support me in every single endeavour I dream of dabbling into, so I don’t know why on earth I ever held back from my interests.
And it scares me because I see this fear in people. I can see that who they are has been completely repressed and buried underneath what the world has told them they should be, or what they think the world wants them to be. Instead of listening to the intense feelings of passion inside of them, they hide and get lost in what they feel they “should” be doing and forget what they actually want from life.
They never truly allow themselves to explore the things that set their heart on fire and bring them to life.
What we sometimes forget is that passion never lies, and it is always leading us in the right direction.
I think Danielle says it best, “There’s duty, and there’s passion. And you can’t fake passion. Passion will always move you in the direction of your authentic self.”
So, today I just want to ask you – are you following your very own passion? Are you on the right track? Are you doing the things in life that make you come to life with happiness? Could you be a more authentic version of yourself? Are you holding back for fear of what people will think? Do wake up excited to start your daily activities?
Feel free to either email me about it (hello@alexbeadon.com) or live on the wild side and join in the discussion in the comments section below! I’d love to hear from you and what your thoughts are on passion, and living life as your authentic self.
Big hugs
xoxo
Alex
