Passions

[Thirteen]

Hey all,

I just wanted to ask if you guys have any passions; something you love to do when you want to have time for yourself and relax; something that makes you feel alive and what you do with your heart, out of pure interest and willingness to do; something at what you express yourself; something that makes your life bearable. For some, it's cooking; for others, computer stuff like coding C++. Others excel in the craft of musician, while some are extremely gifted when it comes to sports.

I'm just asking because I myself have no passion for anything (I have thought about this many a sleepless night). I used to be good at everything I do; but never an expert in anything. I don't know what interests me. I study engineering but I couldn't care less for technology. History, psychology, economics and other things do not interest me either. I used to care for cinemography, now that is boring too, along with other arts. I feel interest for writing but I am verbally average at most, in all the five languages I know, even though I have tried to write - I just never can express myself. I used to play basketball in a sports high school, but after that I stopped playing since it wasn't too interesting either. Nowadays I just drink and try not to drop out of school. I like to drink but I don't know anything about making cocktails or designing a super night club, even though I've worked in a restaurant as a barman.

What I really loved was designing story-based scenarios in a game called Age of Empires 2, but then I realised there were so many better designers that I lost interest again. It's hard to be a perfectionist with no real skills.

If you sometimes were like me, what changed you? Please share experiences; I seem to be the only person I know who doesn't have a "special" hobby, and it really eats me up inside - I feel like I want to burst myself out but I don't know how to vent it.

 

[Enchantress]

Well,I think this is a common thing.Me too,I thought I had no special hobbies.I tried everything.I'm definitely not a good singer,I'm not a good artist,I don't particularly enjoy sports,I'm not super intelligent so i'm not a good mathematician for instance,I'm not good at comforting people or at making loads of friends,So me too I thought I was plain normal and boring too.I went and learned the guitar and made a hobby out of it.I absolutely loved it.I would sit down everyday at midnight when it's quite and play away for many hours at a time.I just found that an amazing way to clear my mind,let all my feelings drift and help me through.I sing to myself,I might not have such a great voice but who cares I'm like humming to myself for comfort and turns out I'm becoming a decent guitar player,I was glad I decided to do that.
As I got older I also discovered more passions I had,I love reading,I simply do and I found that out myself.No one forced me to read all that I read and crave more.It just allows me to live in the perfect world I wish I had or stop thinking about my own life for a while.
I also found out I loved running,I love running especially when its cold and I can feel the wind blowing through my hair,it feels like you are no longer inside your body.It makes me feel happy even if I'm sad so I started doing this.Every week I do this a few times.It works wonders,really lifts your spirits when you're down.I love bathing in a hot bath tub and drinking hot chocolate after when it's cold.And finally,I love cycling,but that I've always liked.

Alot of these things I mentioned are not really "hobbies" But they are things I like to do and that help me make it through even when it seems that there's no hope for me.So these are my passions =]

I don't think there's anything wrong with not having a major talent.I think sometimes we have to search hard within ourselves to know what we genuinely enjoy doing and then strive to be good at it or simply do what we feel happy to do.Find our inner peace.

 

[Lawrens]

Yea, I do have some sort of passion, I believe you don't have to be good at something to have passion in it, but it is kind of discouraging if you're getting better at criticizing and seeing your flaws but your skill isn't living up to it.

I doodle everyday, I still hope I'd become some kind of illustrator in the future, as long as I keep at it, I'll eventually become better right? Even though I'm not good at it, especially compare to other professionals, and I'm getting too old to become exceptionally good.

I think whichever you enjoy doing the most (or hates doing the least), is your passion, you just have to really keep at it. There're better ways like going into a school to learn that kind of stuff, but if that's not an option, you just have to go through hours of trial and erroring everyday, but at least you're getting somewhere.

The best is to not compare yourself to others, but as long as you have a vision of where you want to be, you could take baby steps on reaching that goal. Like if you have an exact goal of become a story scenario writer, you can give yourself a reason to write more story based scenarios in age of empires 2 or other games/stuff, and when you do it, you'll probably remember how much you used to enjoy it, you don't have to be exceptionally good 'today'.

 

[Minus]

I don't seem to have any special skill or passion. I have dabbled in various interests, programming, sculpture, building electronic devices, photography, and on and on. I would be on to a different path before i even got up to an average ability. I think it has been quite a while since i have even had any interests to be mediocre in.

 

[Thatguy]

Only one passion and that's agriculture

 

[An archist]

Hey all,

I just wanted to ask if you guys have any passions; something you love to do when you want to have time for yourself and relax; something that makes you feel alive and what you do with your heart, out of pure interest and willingness to do; something at what you express yourself; something that makes your life bearable. For some, it's cooking; for others, computer stuff like coding C++. Others excel in the craft of musician, while some are extremely gifted when it comes to sports.

I'm just asking because I myself have no passion for anything (I have thought about this many a sleepless night). I used to be good at everything I do; but never an expert in anything. I don't know what interests me. I study engineering but I couldn't care less for technology. History, psychology, economics and other things do not interest me either. I used to care for cinemography, now that is boring too, along with other arts. I feel interest for writing but I am verbally average at most, in all the five languages I know, even though I have tried to write - I just never can express myself. I used to play basketball in a sports high school, but after that I stopped playing since it wasn't too interesting either. Nowadays I just drink and try not to drop out of school. I like to drink but I don't know anything about making cocktails or designing a super night club, even though I've worked in a restaurant as a barman.

What I really loved was designing story-based scenarios in a game called Age of Empires 2, but then I realised there were so many better designers that I lost interest again. It's hard to be a perfectionist with no real skills.

If you sometimes were like me, what changed you? Please share experiences; I seem to be the only person I know who doesn't have a "special" hobby, and it really eats me up inside - I feel like I want to burst myself out but I don't know how to vent it.

Wow thirteen! You really nailed it! This is something that dawned on me kind of recently too. I lost interest in what I'm studying long ago, German isn't fun anymore ever since my hot professor was replaced with the fat lady with the warts on her face. As for recreation...I don't really do much of anything. I spend lot's of free time on the computer, but just boring myself.

I think the problem is that when you first find that you're good at something, you feel sort of impressed with yourself and then you start to think that you enjoy it, but what you really enjoy is just getting good grades or feeling clever. But it wears off fast.

When I was younger I used to love playing baseball--I was pretty good at it too, but I really enjoyed it as well. That was replaced by skatebording, which was replaced with the general, vague enjoyment from getting good grades in school. Ever since baseball, I really haven't had a genuine interest in anything! You said it best right here buddy:

It's hard to be a perfectionist with no real skills.

I also know what it feels like to have the pent up energy that you really wish to vent through some hobby/interest. A lot of the time when I get that way I just pull out a notebook or something and just sort of doodle or scribble down half-baked thoughts. If I were an artist or a musician or I were more handy, I'd make art, music or home improvements. I hope to find something I like soon. Until then, thanks for this post man. It speaks to me.

 

[samba101]

I have no passion for anything, and don't know what hobbies to try without it involving money. I used to be passionate about dancing called Ceroc but after a few years with good memories I you tubed it to bring back fond memories, well I was highly disppointed what I thought looked and felt good was actually just dancing around in circles if you can understand what I mean, so therefore I was put off going back.

I used to be the perfectionist, jack of all trades but master of none but over the years my perfectionism has waned, bringing much relief as if things weren't up to standard I'd stress myself out trying to make it so, which in turn took all the fun or positive feelings out of what I was doing.

I used to play netball and was in the A team, after being a loner and only knowing my team mates on a casual basis I gave up the game and returned once to play for my brother in laws team. Back then I was quite good but for other reasons I can't and won't play sport again.

So that leaves me to find hobbies, the only thing is I bore of things quickly so trying to stay at it and make something of it will need to be a goal for me. I gave up scrabble only after playing once, the club I went to had players that were very advanced and it took all the fun out of it after I was getting wasted by mega points every turn.

 

[Twitchy]

Any interest I had in playing my guitar has faded. Playing for an audience consisting of yourself gets old fairly quickly, no matter how much you think you've managed to learn. I still do it, but just to fill the time between psychotic breakdowns.

These days, I mostly use what little spare time I have to sit around, smoke and eat bad food. I've even stopped exercising for added effect. I'm trying to cultivate a greatly diminished lifespan as a favor to those sick of my bullshit.

If you're all good boys and girls, I might have a heart attack within a year. It's the only way you'll ever get rid of me.

 

[Whirligig]

Thirteen, I couldn't agree with you more. I often find myself unable to get any spark or zing going in my soul, no matter what I'm doing. I've tried science, exercise, cooking, joining the military (being a square peg in a round world makes camraderie difficult to come by there), teaching, writing, binge drinking, music, you name it. As several people have said already, what I have often mistaken for enjoyment is usually the thrill of easy initial achievement.

Sigh..... I wish I knew what to do to drag myself out of this slump. But as it's been going for 28 years now.... the only thing I've been truly passionate about is my partner, and I've managed to mess that up through my destructive behaviour patterns.

Feeble brain chemistry. Grrrr.....

 

[Thirteen]

Great to see that I am not the only one feeling this emptiness. I think what this all comes down to is the search for the meaning of life. I can't help but feel worthless; a beast created without a function. Now try not to be depressed. =/

 

[Whirligig]

Maybe the search for a purpose can be the purpose itself...

 

[Thirteen]

But where to find the energy to search when you don't see where you're heading and you can't see the destination?

 

[TheWrathof_Jay]

i used to be heavily passionate about skateboarding but it rains 75% of the time and the streets arent exactly smooth near me so i stopped

 

[coricopat]

I'm having this problem now. I used to have a lot of passions....but I think the fire in me has been put out. Once I get that back I'm sure I'll find more things to be passionate about.

But yeah, no clue how to get that back.

 

[Thirteen]

While pondering over this question, I somehow found myself in Wikipedia reading about Buddhism, which in turn led me to the Zen article. That way I ended up in these two sites;

http://www.zenguide.com/
http://www.mro.org/zmm/teachings/meditation.php

What Buddhism and Zen philosophies basically aim for is to find out answers to your life and find your own nature by engaging in a process of deep concentration - a dive in your own self. The brain and the mind have always fascinated me and these philosophies and their results are direct consequences of analyzing oneself by oneself.

Today I tried sitting and meditating for the first time. I put some pillows on my floor and sat myself by my room's wall. I counted my breaths - first a five minute sitting and then a twenty minutes one, while Shpongle and Amethystium were playing from my computer.

I must say, I felt kind of weird, especially after the 20 min sitting. Nothing enlightening yet, of course, but I found it quite hard to concentrate on something as "easy" as counting your breaths in and out. Anyway, I really felt a lot more relaxed, concentrating and readier to take on the world, after the very first time I sat down and meditated in my life.

I'm thinking about making this a daily habit. What I hope to find out is answers to various problems in my life through waking up my subconsciousness, and as a bonus, more relaxed and concentrated state of mind (at the moment all my thoughts and reasonings are chaos) which would, I hope, lead into a more organized studying process and stronger grip over my minor drinking problem.

 

[yesm]

If one can devote themselves to meditation there is alot to be gained... even from just a 5 minute sitting.

Although i am not practiced and haven't for some time... several times in my life meditation has brought me to states of euphoria to overcoming great mental obstacles....

this one time we had moved and i had to start in a new school and i was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nervous like crying and freaking out about it...

so i decided to sit down and meditate and not get up untill the problem didn't bother me anymore...

i know i sat there for at least an hour if not numerous hours, but eventually all of the sudden... a voice in my head (not like a voice, but just my own thoughts taking to their own kinda deal) suddenly just said (no fear).... the entire concept of not being afraid overcame my being... i suddenly was completely unafraid... and for the next 3 days i walked around with out a SINGLE care or worry in my mind... and 2 of these days were spent at school which was VERy beneficial lol. I remember just being completely free of worry or care or fear for those few days.... it was amazing...

These days i don't have that kind of patience, but you can definately go places with mediation... choosing a breathing rate... a focus... using the inner smile to create feeling of happiness what not... it's pretty amazing stuff...

A good start practicing for clearing the mind is to sit... breathe in through the nose... out through the mouth... then focus on breathing and everytime you notice yourself thinking just state..."thoughts" and move on... eventually if you have enough patience to find it... you reach a place where you sort of disconnect from your thoughts... and your senses begin to heighten... it's pretty amazing stuff...

 

[heretostay]

If you sometimes were like me, what changed you? Please share experiences; I seem to be the only person I know who doesn't have a "special" hobby, and it really eats me up inside - I feel like I want to burst myself out but I don't know how to vent it.

i dont know how old you are, or if you've ever had to have a job, but this is what changed me. when you are in school it does get boring. i was just like you. i eventually dropped out of school, but guess what, then you get to get a very, very boring, no respect, low-paying job. think school is bad? you havent seen anything yet. there is nothing worse then a boring job that you have to go to eight hours a day, every day, for the rest of your life. This is what will change how you view "boring." until then, you wont appreciate school for what it really is. school is not meant to entertain you. its meant to teach you, and yes its boring, but the point is if you can withstand it you will hopefully have more options so you dont get stuck in a low paying, no respect, boring job. there's nothing worse.

i worked in such a job for a year and a half and then went back to school. no doubt it was boring but it was not as bad as what i was doing. I had a couple of other jobs after that and eventually found one i really liked. but it was low-paying, bad hours, no respect. so im back in school again. boring. you bet. worth it, in the long run yes.

 

[SophiaGrace]

I used to be very passionate about reading. I absolutely ADORED literature. But then...i found the internet...and i've been wasting all my free-time on this ever since

 

[Thirteen]

heretostay; I have worked as a barman and waiter and construction site worker, so I know how "shitty" jobs are. And that's definitely not something I want to do. There's nothing wrong with school, but I also need a hobby, something that I'm passionate about. I just went to my friend's house for this project - he had a god damned electric workshop! I mean, now THAT's passion. Nothing interests me and I don't know why... This is horrible. I feel like such a nobody, a loser. =/

 

[Catalyst]

My problem is quite the opposite. I seem to have passion for almost everything in existance.

It could be perhaps that you just haven't discovered your passion yet. Your passion may be more of the abstract than tangible.