Heartstrings - by Tioluwani Aina

<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/1000355117.jpg"/>We say that doing what we are passionate about is enough to derive satisfaction out of the work we do. It promises to send pulses into what otherwise would be seen as lifeless. It promises to bring vividity into the greyscale that colours our herculean tasks. It promises that loving what we do, doing what we love is enough.There is a subtle disdain that is garnished within our conversations, on and off the grid, for people that are doing what they have to do instead of what they love. You'd come across remarks like "Do what you love and you will never have to work a day in your life" or "The passionate person will always beat the person incentivised by money". If you're sensitive, even just a little bit, this will get to you.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/1000355122.jpg"/>You'd start to replay all the instances in your life that felt like betrayal, where it seemed like you exchanged genuine fulfilment for some th ing bringing monetary satisfaction. It lingers at the back of your mind and may start to manifest as micro or even macro-aggressions. Suddenly, your job starts to become a drag, the course you have chosen to study becomes a curse. You look within your radius and notice that people around you are also in a similar situation.As you begin to trace your steps to know how you got here, you start to see some recurring motifs around yourself and others: it might have been parental pressure so you had to force yourself to love it, it might have been financial frustration or just fear of the future that nudged you to choose this career path or course.Something else might have been calling your name and tugging at your heartstrings; albeit gently, softly but firmly. "I'll get back to you later when I'm in XYZ position, I promise", that's what you tell that voice, over and over again. Some people still hold on to that voice for dear life as it offers asylum from a world that is driving them mad while others, becoming consumed with the inevitabilities of life, never hear from it again.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/1000355128.jpg"/>Passion. A word that implies everlasting, kinetic energy towards something, something so exciting that it gives you sweet dreams, it keeps you up at night, it is part of what wakes you up in the morning, it might even power you through the day. It's like incessant fire thay doesn't consume but rather: purifies, refines and redefines its vessel.The root of the word, passion, is the Latin word, "pati", which means: "to suffer", "to endure" or "to be acted upon". Coming across the etymology of this word that has been thrown around casually, especially nowadays, really puts things in perspective.Passion is not just about being filled with contagious enthusiasm for something, it isn't just about loving what you are doing ALL of the time(as if that's humanly possible). It entails a part that is seldom spoken on:Passion is the willingness to suffer when taking action on whatever is the object of your gaze.You're ready to look and feel like shit, you're ready to be spat on the face, you're ready to feel pain, you're ready to keep on going even when the chips are down, you're ready for your heart and will to be grotesquely contoured just to bring whatever is in your mind's eye to fruition.<img alt="" src="/media/inline_insight_image/1000355130.jpg"/>So, when we look around and see those whose hearts are filled with glee when doing the same things we do begrudgingly: let us remember that there is madness behind the beauty, that there are impurities within the gold. And maybe, just maybe, these people could inspire us to find the courage to listen to that quiet voice that pulls at our conscience and hearts. That nudges us to compromise our compromise, just as we did to that voice before.That we would find that, which we are willing to suffer for and Never. Let. Go.

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