MICRO-PASSIONS

Finding your passion is hard work. People spend their entire lives doing so. I must admit, I find it a little annoying at times because people talk about it as if passion is out there hiding under a rock. Look hard enough, and one day, you’ll find it. Who are you kidding?

For many people, that day is never going to come because a lot of people don’t have just one burning desire. Most people just have a lot of interests, and that’s completely fine. There’s nothing wrong with you because you don’t have that ONE passion. In fact, to believe that everybody must pursue their one and only passion is to neglect all the little things we enjoy no matter how big or small. Instead of pursuing your passion, I suggest pursuing micro-passions instead.

Micro-passion – (noun) – Something that you are interested in that may or may not align directly with your ultimate goal in life.

I set up a personal challenge for myself for the year of 2016, and that was to learn a new skill every month. This is what I did:

• January = Make videos

• February = Learn screen printing

• March = Write a book

• April = The Japanese art of decluttering and organizing

• May = Design an art book

• June = Learn to sing

• July = Learn to swim properly

• August = How to deadlift

• September = The discipline and confidence to go my own pace in life

• October = Photograph a ballet school

• November = How to change car oil

• December = Learn gyrotonic

Are any of these things my passion per say? No, but they are definitely things that I am interested in and find a lot of joy doing. By the end of the year, I will have learned 12 new skills. Instead of pursuing just one burning desire, by the end of the year, I will have created for myself a multifaceted passion. 

Have you been stuck trying to find your passion? Try doing the little things you enjoy instead, and see where it takes you. And if you’re up for it, join me and let’s tackle a micro-passion each and every month.

by Jason Lam

WHY YOU NEED TO OVERCOME YOUR FEAR OF LOOKING STUPID

Learning, growing, and kicking ass is a process, and looking stupid is a part of that process.

Let’s be honest. You weren’t always this sexy. You weren’t always this ripped. You weren’t always this good in bed. You weren’t always this smart.

If you’re completely honest, you looked like a complete idiot when you first started doing anything you now call yourself “good” at.

However, as we get older, it’s as if our ability to look stupid seems to weaken. More and more, I hear close friends of mine telling me of things they want to do but don’t.

“No way, I’ll look like such a dumbass.”

“I don’t want to embarrass myself.”

“Everybody’s going to laugh at me.”

But here’s the thing. Failing and looking stupid is an essential part of learning and growing. If we are to zoom out and take a look at the bigger picture, we’ll understand that embarrassing ourselves is simply the stepping-stone towards greatness. All of the sudden, the phase of stupidity seems more bearable.

We as adults mistakenly believe the initial incompetence and embarrassment of a new undertaking will last forever. It’s as if every time you summon the courage to do something new, there’s a big black hole waiting to suck you in. It also doesn’t help that all your friends are there with their smartphones, ready to document your utter failure and laugh at you for the rest of your life.

Step One: If your friends are doing that, then you shouldn’t be friends with them anymore.

Step Two: Unfortunately, people find a lot of joy at the expense of others (which is further exacerbated by the seeming permanence of smartphones and the Internet), but that comes with the territory. Just remember that this momentary relapse in gracefulness is not a reflection of the entire you, and it need not be taken personally.

Far too many people fail to grow into higher versions of themselves because they don’t want to look stupid when they are merely inexperienced – at least in that very moment in time. Out of the fear of looking stupid, many people, surprisingly, stay stupid. The reality is you probably do look a bit silly doing anything for the first time. If you held a mirror up and got a good look at yourself, I’m sure you’d have a good laugh as well. Find solace in the fact that looking anything but graceful when venturing out into new territory is absolutely normal. Embarrassing yourself is just a small, necessary step toward a much longer process of growth and wisdom. If anything, looking stupid is simply a prerequisite to totally kicking ass.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Remember, you’ve stumbled, crawled and fell over and over again before you learned how to walk. That didn’t stop you. You couldn’t even write your own name correctly at one point in your life. That didn’t stop you. You were terrible in bed once. That didn’t stop you. Why should anything else stop you now?

Go out and look stupid.

by Jason Lam

HOW TO FIND OUT WHO YOU REALLY ARE

On the last day of class of my final year in college, my screenwriting teacher, Kris Young, (who I swear is the reincarnation of Confucius because of his wisdom) takes a breast pump out from his bag and places it on the table. Now, I don't really know how those things work, but he instructs us to be quiet as he hits the 'ON' switch, which then fills the room with a low mechanical hum. After a confused couple of minutes, he turns it off and tells us to say what we heard. 

The actual answers didn't matter. What mattered was that WE ALL HEARD SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

And so the last thing I learned in college, which I still remember to this day, was not about all the technicalities of creativity. It was the fact that WE ALREADY HAVE A UNIQUE VOICE, and the best thing we can do as artists is to stay true to it.

The problem is we don't realize or forget that we already have what it takes, and I admit it is easy to forget when you're constantly being critiqued by those around you.

So how do we re-discover our voice among all this noise?

The first thing that comes to my mind is to tell you to immediately turn off your computer, buy a plane ticket, and go somewhere you've never been before, but I know that wouldn't work, at least not yet. Before I start offering suggestions, let's talk about why "finding yourself" is so difficult in the first place.

We are social beings. Our identities are formed not just by the DNA that has been passed onto us, but also by the environment that we grew up in. Now, we know that we are individuals and we can differentiate between “I” and “You,” but much of our identity is actually a reflection of other people. Think about it, we play basketball because our friends play basketball, and we find a job, get married and have children because that's what everybody else is doing. "If they are this way, then I should be this way." We go with the flow because human beings naturally take the path of least resistance. Plus, it feels good to have a sense of belonging. Why cause a ruckus by quitting your job and telling all your friends that you're sick of capitalism and would rather live on a farm out in some remote location in Europe? (ahem*)

It can become difficult to live in a community and maintain a sense of individuality. This issue is precisely why fashion is so popular. It's the easiest way to appear different (despite the fact that in reality, we all know you bought that sweater at American Apparel, hipster!). But I digress… 

We already have a unique voice, but when we're trying to find the balance between fitting in and still being an individual, our voice can often get misplaced. There are usually millions of different voices swimming inside our heads telling us what we should and should not do. When this happens, we must relocate it by removing all other voices by... you guessed it, changing your surroundings (don't buy your plane ticket yet, but start thinking about where to go).

Change your surroundings. Travel. It is only through traveling and deliberately placing yourself in an unfamiliar environment that allows you to finally see yourself clearly. A cat among a pack of dogs. Because you are in a new environment, free from the pressure and expectations from before, you can do what you want. You can have a fresh start. The interesting part that then helps you re-discover who you are is what you hold onto in this new environment, and what you let go. Finally, through spending time in a different place, and “trying on” new identities like how you try on a new sweater, you get to look back and see how far you've come. By making the effort to find yourself, you can now compare your new self with the old. 

Our identity can then be thought of as pieces of luggage. What do I need? What can I leave? What did I think I need but actually didn't? What made my trip worse? What did I forget to bring that would've made my trip better? And lastly, what are the things I absolutely could not live without?

Through this long journey that can last for an entire lifetime, we can finally return home with what is most important to our essential self, which is, of course, our true self.

by Jason Lam