By What do you love to do? The question sounds so simple and yet it is a complex one. Why? Because it gets into your innermost desires, which are typically hidden.
This scene from Julie & Julia is an excellent example of a journey to answering that question. It’s quite a brilliant moment between two great actors, Stanley Tucci and Meryl Streep! Julia Childs honestly answered that she really liked to eat. Her face lights up and she gets SO excited. And thus a cooking empire was born. Part of the process is trying things out and realizing “no – that’s not quite it.”. In her case, she tried hat making and bridge. I have no idea if the story is factually accurate, but that doesn’t make it less real for you and me!
Often times it is easier to answer what you don’t love. And that is part of the journey here. You try a job, a hobby, a class in college, etc. You find out if your heart says “YES” or just a “meh” or “NO”.
Let’s walk through an example from my college days. I was in the business school and Business Law was a required course. There I sata next to Toni Scott and another student. They were excitedly quoting court cases and decisions and law stuff. Yammering on with memorized titles and what it meant, hands flailing in the air as their conversation continued..and I knew right then and there that I had zero desire to go to law school. As an example, that level excitement for me has come from singing (whether on stage or in choir). I love hearing other voices and blending with them, following a conductor as s/he guides us through a piece. The truth of the matter (and this gets ahead of things a bit), is that while I enjoy singing and may be good at it, I’m not great at it and it is certainly not something I can get paid for, as far as I know. BUT… before I self-dismiss, the correct course of action could be to take a singing class or audition for some shows just to confirm my assumption.
Let me call myself out for two bad things I’ve done in the above example – I made an assumption (making an Ass out of U and ME) and I self-deselected before even trying. Am I so afraid of failure that I won’t try? Rejection/Failure can be soul shaking if I view it as a rejection of me personally or if I view failure as something wrong. But if I can wrap my mind around viewing these “bad” things as really something good, I open myself up to so much more out of life.
So there’s your a-ha moment for the day. Don’t be afraid to try.
I’m going to work on a list of things I love!
