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 SHOULD KEEP ALL YOUR DREAMS IN PLAY

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been feeling like I have to be more selective with the things I want to do and stopping myself from following my impulses. When I was younger, I had no inhibitions about uploading silly videos of myself onto the internet for the sake of sharing it with my friends and having a good laugh. Now? I have to consider all these things like, OMG, it’s going to be on the internet forever. How will this affect my professional career? Does it align with my current brand image? How will everybody think of me? Everybody’s going to judge me! And so what happens? I don’t let myself make spur-of-the-moment videos. I don’t let myself follow my intuition. I don’t let myself have any fun. But it’s all for a greater cause I say to myself. Because by not wasting time and energy on the inessential, I get to focus all my energy on one goal and be that much more effective.

This is a rather widely accepted notion. Famous quotes like, “Jack of all trades, master of none” seems to run quite rampant in the motivational quotes arena, but I think there is something missing here. There's this idea that it’s bad to have multiple interests. Because someone is a jack-of-all-trades and master of none, we make the false assumption that this is all he will ever be. We neglect the fact that this is precisely the path one takes when discovering mastery. Some people just take a little longer than others. 

“All knowledge leads to self-knowledge.”
- Bruce Lee 

The more you get to explore, try new things and follow your curiosity, the more you know and the more capable you are of being fully equipped and ready to tackle that one thing in life. But if you pigeonhole yourself too early on, you end up learning less about the world and less about yourself.

Energy has the capability of feeding back into itself, but when you don’t allow yourself to flow, that energy is never used. It is not recycled or redirected toward your ultimate goal; it is simply sitting there, holding you back, and growing stale. 

Solution:

Let it all flow. Keep everything in play. Don’t cut anything out. This is how you live a rich life, and this is how you maintain your momentum, progress, and growth. 

“Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another.”
- Albert Einstein 

Your interests, impulses, and intuition manifest themselves in different forms. Energy can feed back into itself, get stronger, and eventually morph into something absolutely beautiful, but not if your energy is blocked.

If you look at how rivers form, they do not start as giant streams. They start as a collection of tiny segments – a master of none, if you may – but if you look closely you will find that these seemingly tiny streams start to build momentum. The flow becomes stronger, bigger, faster, all the way until they naturally find their way together, raging with power and becoming a force to be reckoned with. This is made possible because the individual streams explored other avenues and strengthened on their own. By following through with each individual path, the collective whole of the river is made stronger when they finally join forces. Your interests are not as disconnected as you think.

You need to trust that all your seemingly disconnected interests will lead you to somewhere great. If not, believe that it will at least make you a better person with every step you take. Don’t cut anything out because when you do, you are cutting yourself out.

I make fun little videos, and I do it because I get a lot of joy out of them. I also take design classes, swimming lessons, and even started taking voice lessons recently. They do not align perfectly with who I am as a professional. Some of you might even think it’s a waste of time. I admit that it’s very much a sidetrack to what I’ve become known for – photography. It’s random. It’s unedited. It’s raw. If anything, it’s much closer to the real me.

These seemingly random hobbies feed into each other. It doesn’t take anything away. In fact, it makes me feel more alive. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to learn to trust all the pieces in play and to let my interests take me where it will. I let myself be free. I believe that life has something far greater and brighter planned for me than anything I could ever imagine, but first I have to be open to it, and it starts by allowing myself to take these chances.

Stay curious. Keep looking. Keep changing. And let life flow through you.

by Jason Lam

THE JUST DO SOMETHING APPROACH

Forget passion.

Just do something, and you will find passion along the way.

Passion does not have to be a prerequisite for taking action.

I can't say I was passionate about photography when I first started. I was just curious, and then I grew passionate about it later on.

One thing I've learned is the better you get at something, the more passionate you'll become.

Stop searching, and just do something.

by Jason Lam

10 MORE ALTERNATIVES TO FINDING YOUR “PASSION”

I still don’t like the word “passion.” I still think it’s a loaded word, but everybody still seems bent on finding it, so here we go:

1) What conversations do you enjoy having? The types of conversations we want to have determine the types of friends we make, the work we do, and ultimately, the person we become and the contribution we make to the world. I particularly enjoy having conversations about why people do the things they do and how a greater understanding of the self can lead to a better life. 

2) If you were stuck on Mars with 30 days left of food, what would you say to everyone? Funny how a life or death situation can remind ourselves what truly matters. What would you say? And how could you apply what you are saying to your own life?

3) What topic could you read 1,000 books on? Take a look at your bookshelf. Are there any reoccurring subjects? Maybe you’ve already read 1,000 books on a certain topic without even knowing it. What topics do you find yourself returning to and wanting to learn more about?

4) What’s the overarching theme between all the things you’ve been doing and all the goals you’ve been making? Take out a piece of paper. Write it down. Create a map. How does it all link back up to each other? If you look back far enough, perhaps you’ll find that everything all connects to one overarching goal.

5) What would you regret not pursuing when laying on your deathbed? I know. A little hard to imagine. This question is even a little borderline cliché but only because it’s very helpful. What would you regret? Maybe that’s precisely what you need to do.

6) What do you want your future self to look like? Take 10 minutes to fantasize what a day in your perfect life would look like. Start in the morning, and describe everything you do in detail from the moment you wake up. Where are you? Who are you with? How are you spending your day? Now, read over what you wrote. How does this future self differ from who you are now? What can you do today so this future self can one day become your present self?

7) What would you do for free? You may find that you’re already doing what you’re passionate about without even noticing it. This often happens because some of us might think that passion must be a burning desire you feel when you wake up every morning. It doesn’t have to be. It can just be something you enjoy without even getting paid for it. Maybe you really like baking, offering words of advice to friends in need, or telling stories. So ask yourself, are you already doing it?

8) What work were you doing the last time you forgot time altogether? In psychology, there is a term called “Flow.” Or in other words, “being in the zone;” a state of complete absorption in an activity where time flies. Right off the top of my head, it’s when I’m writing, performing and teaching. How about you?

9) How do you want to feel when you wake up in the morning? Much of how we feel in the present is determined by what we have in store for the future. What do you look forward to? What do you want to look forward to?

10) What do you miss? As we grow older, there are more and more things we let go of for the purpose of becoming an “adult.” Sometimes, this type of thinking forces us to let go of things we otherwise would have very much wanted to hold onto. I miss high school band. I miss playing music. I miss being part of a team. I miss the camaraderie. I miss having a coach. And I’ll share a secret, when I was a kid, my dream was to be a rock star.

If it makes you feel any better, whatever you’re searching for is also searching for you. Sometimes you just need to open yourself up to the things that are already trying to find a way into your life.

by Jason Lam 

THE MOST EMOTIONAL YOGA CLASS EVER

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Marianne Williamson

I’ve been taking yoga classes twice a week. At my most recent session, the yoga instructor read this very quote out loud to us and I finally came to truly understand what it all means. You see, because I’ve been feeling quite fearful – which has led me to feeling hesitant, which then led me to feeling sorry for myself for being so weak. After all my travels and proactive self-improvement, I still managed to get myself stuck in a rut: back home with my parents and actually trying (though failing horribly) to live a “normal life” and do a “normal job.” I’ve become quite confused because I feel equal parts courage and fear ... equal parts capable and incapable, or to sum it up in a phrase: “I know I can, but for some reason, I can’t.” But then again, If I can, then why can I not?

Because I feel that I am undeserving of such power. How coincidental, our deepest fear – my deepest fear was never that I was inadequate. My deepest fear is that I am powerful beyond measure. It is my light, not my darkness that most frightens me. I ask myself, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who am I not to be?”

Can I actually make a difference? Can I be my true self and not be embarrassed? Can I shine my light despite the darkness surrounding me?

“You will fall,” the yoga instructor says as we begin getting into our tree pose. “We all have this voice in our heads telling ourselves, don’t fall, don’t fall, don’t fall ... but one day you will, and that’s okay because you can get right back up and pick up right where you left off.”

I think back to my younger teenage days when I grew my hair long across my face, when I never hesitated to let people know how much I loved Jay Chou, when I completely poured my heart out on Xanga without a care of what my privacy settings were, and how heartbroken I’d be when the girl I confessed my love to broke the news that she already likes somebody else. You would think that growing older means becoming more courageous and unrelenting about showing off who you really are. But I look back to my teenage years and I find that I was quite powerful, unrelenting, and much less hesitant than I am today. It’s funny. I guess the harder I’ve tried to stand out, the more I’ve just ended up blending in by taking on the excess fear bearing down on those surrounding me. Their deepest fear also being that they are powerful beyond measure, and so they do nothing. But all eyes are on me as I make the first move, then all of the sudden they beg the question, “Who are you to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?” To which I’ll just have to respond by saying, “Actually, who are you not to be?”

As the class came to a close, we are instructed to bring our right leg up to the pigeon pose, to take a deep breath in, then a little deeper, and to exhale as the whole class erupts in a giant “ahhh..........” The yoga instructor tells us to be conscious of our thoughts, our actions, our feelings; that everything that happened earlier today is no longer happening, that we are here now, and to just be present and breathe. “Just breathe,” he says to all of us. “No one is coming to save you, so you can stop waiting.” Surprisingly, my eyes became misty. How truthful.

I think it is easy to play the victim. Not to say whatever harmed us in the past did not play a major role in our pain, but many times playing the victim can be just another easy way out. It allows for excuses. The tiny voices in our heads keep up the chatter because, in a way, it feels good. Playing the role of the victim becomes part of our identity. It feels good to complain about our unfortunate position because it draws attention, hugs, friends patiently sitting beside you as you repeat your pitiful story for the hundredth time and tell you, “Aww it’s going to be okay” – the whole nine yards. The whole time unknowingly justifying our deepest fears of being inadequate. Well, as the yoga instructor said unto us earlier today, “No one is coming to save you, so you can stop waiting.” He continued, “And if that sounds depressing, then screw it.” His way of giving us permission to crawl back into the fetal position crying for help. But as scary as it sounded, I found it incredibly liberating.

“No one is coming to save you, so you can stop waiting.”

So scary. Yet, so liberating. Because you truly are in control of your own destiny, and frankly, everybody, even your closest friends, are way too busy dealing with their own messy lives to handhold you every step of the way.

So do something about it.

Whenever I mention anything regarding my pursuit of art, Dad’s favorite response is, “There’s only one Zhang Yimou,” to which I now say, “There’s only one Jason Lam.”

And as the class came to a close, and I lay on my back with limbs stretched out, he sounds the crystal singing bowl. As the hum momentarily takes over the entire room and thus my entire consciousness, it wipes out all inhibitions and fear. For those brief moments, I am free and truly understand that playing small does not serve the world. And if I am ever to feel an ounce of fear, it is not because I am inadequate but because I am powerful beyond measure.

by Jason Lam

10 ALTERNATIVES TO FINDING YOUR "PASSION"

I personally don’t like the word “passion.” I think it’s a loaded word, but everybody seems bent on finding it, so I might as well help you along your path.

1) Who do you admire? Though I can’t say I have found my passion, I do have a few people that make me say to myself, “Wow, I want to be just like him.” You probably admire multiple people, and your ideal self is a mishmash of all those people combined. While everybody has been preaching looking within, sometimes it’s easier to look out and see what you like. So who do you admire? And to take it a step further, what do they do? And how can you get yourself closer to that?

2) If you’re in a bookstore, which section do you go to first? I’ve always gravitated toward the self-help section for some reason. And if it wasn’t the self-help section, it was the travel section. Funny enough, I never really found myself in the photography section too often, but only because I view photography as a tool we must utilize to talk about something else. Frankly speaking, I can’t use this tool unless I have something important to say. Which part of the bookstore have you been finding yourself in lately?

3) If there was a zombie apocalypse and you were the sole survivor, would you still be doing it? The basic infrastructure of life as we know it no longer exists. The typical 9-5 is gone. No more mortgage, health insurance, or fuss about a 401k match. It’s just you and the world. What would you still be doing?

4) When you are left alone, what are you drawn to? When I’m left alone, I’m drawn to thinking, seeing, and creating imaginative stories in my head, which ultimately leads me to write everything down. So when I am left alone, I write. I can’t help but write. It seems quite second nature to me. What about you?

5) If you painted a canvas of your ideal life, what would it look like? How different would it be from the life you’re living now? What can you do today that can make your life look more like the painting of your ideal life?

6) What has your inner voice been telling you to do? What do you want more of? If there is something you have been thinking about for a long time, chances are you need to go and do it. The reality is you’re going to end up doing it anyway, so any time spent doing otherwise is just time wasted. As Bruce Lee says, "If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made of." I want to create more great work, both in writing and photography, and that is what I will do.

7) What are you glad you let go of? Letting go comes with many negative connotations because it can feel like giving up, but sometimes it is the best thing you can do for yourself. Why did you let go? Sometimes knowing what you want means knowing what you don't want. Sounds simple, but this subtle distinction will help you avoid making the same mistakes further down the line.

8) What do you want your days to look like? I like this question because it forces us to think about the lifestyle you would have if you were to follow your passion instead of only focusing on what you should be doing. By posing the question this way, we can work our way backward from the life that we want to live and, ultimately, the type of work most suitable to sustain this lifestyle.

9) What gives you goosebumps? We get goosebumps when we are either cold or frightened, but fear can be interpreted as a sign that you are on the right path. I get goosebumps at the thought that my work can actually make a difference. It's scary, but it's a sign that perhaps I am headed the right direction.

10) What do you want people to remember you for? Someday, people will summarize your life in a single sentence or word. What do you want it to be? Inspiring. I want to be remembered as someone who inspired others to get what they want out of life. If by coming in contact with me or my work, I enriched your life in some way, inspired you to overcome your fears and take a step closer towards the person you want to be and the life you want to live, then I have done my job.

by Jason Lam

WHY YOU SHOULD FORGET ABOUT ART SCHOOL

…well, if the art schools we attend aren’t spending time telling us how shitty our work is, we wouldn’t be spending our hard earned money taking their classes in hopes of lessening our shitty-ness, and so the teachers would lose their jobs, the schools would shut down… and then something miraculous would happen… we’d have to find our own way, and suddenly, our greatest work will emerge from within us.

"We can achieve so much when self-help is all the help we can get."

Consider this question:

If there were no schools to aid you in the pursuit of your passion, would you still pursue it?

There is big money in the “HOW TO” business. We love learning “HOW TO (fill in the blank)”. However, we've grown a little too accustomed to this form of assisted learning. When we set out to learn something new, the first thing that comes to mind is, “Which school can I attend to take some classes?”. Unlike the “ignorant child” whose first instinct is to learn by doing, we’ve lost our drive for proactive self-discovery. Instead, we want others to do the heavy lifting for us… and they will, and you’ll pay, and they’ll continue telling you how you’re not quite there yet, how you need to continue taking classes, how you need to continue giving them your hard earned money, because you suck.

Let’s stop and think for a second… can you remember the last time a teacher said to you, “You got it. You are totally competent. You don’t have to take this class anymore”. I sure haven’t, and from a business perspective, that would be completely idiotic. Bring them down, and charge a premium to bring them back up again! Now that’s a profitable business plan! Don’t worry. You’ll get there soon enough. We promise. “BUT FIRST, LET ME TAKE YOUR #MONEY”

You want to improve your art? Take that money and go travel instead. Get lost. You’ll end up with less debt, and more self-knowledge. You don’t need a degree to show that you’re an artist. You need to do it yourself.

We’ve been fooled to believe that we have be like a lion in the circus, pointlessly jumping through flaming hoops before we can reap the rewards, when the power to do whatever we please has been within us all along.

We are in a new age where it’s actually possible to achieve the unimaginable. The older generation with all its hierarchical bullshit is deeply afraid. They know we can knock them down, and we will, if only we first accept that we can.

by Jason Lam

P.S. I actually wanted to title this article “HEY, YOU SUCK”.

THE DANGERS OF DOING WHAT YOU LOVE

Dancing… Dancing… I LOVE DANCING!… at least I used to.

I started dancing rather late. I was 21 years old. I just celebrated the new year and had a huge list of resolutions, but the one thing I wanted to do more than anything else was to LEARN HOW TO DANCE! It always seemed like such a great time. “I want to be just like them!” I remembered myself saying. I figured as long as I learned the basics, then I could join in on the fun!

I was afraid. Prior to committing to this goal, I had already embarrassed myself at a Hip Hop audition just one year prior. We had to freestyle and all I managed to do was execute a terrible wave through my arms. CUE LAUGHTER. But this time it would be different! I was still shy, I was still nervous and afraid, but I wouldn’t let that paralyze me any longer. I jumped in.

The first dance class I took was the “UCLA Breakin’ and Poppin” class. I had a blast! I learned how to do the six-step, how to do a freeze, and also how to “pop” my muscles. I continued dancing every week, weeks turned into months, months turned into years, but then I realized something. I wasn’t getting any closer to being able to jam with the experienced dancers, in fact, the more moves I learned, the more distant I felt.

Dance was no longer fun.

The initial excitement that motivated me to overcome my inhibitions and pursue dance had disappeared. Why? Because dance was no longer about enjoying the music with one another, suddenly, it was about how “good” you are, how many moves you have, and how many props you’re getting. Suddenly, it was about doing the moves “properly”. Suddenly, it was about impressing others.

Who’s to blame? 

The Curse of Knowledge - “Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it”

I was cursed. Soon as I stepped into my first dance class, I began the process of stripping away my innocence, thus slowly debilitating my ability to view dance with my initial feelings of awe and wonder.

I presume this is also how most dancers in the cipher view each other. No longer able to see through the eyes of how they were before they became skilled, and only capable of noticing what they have been taught.

And so begins this vicious cycle where:

• I just focused on all the moves I lacked and/or still had to improve.

• I became highly critical of how other people danced and only responded positively to their ability to carry out difficult moves.

• Vice versa

Why does this happen? Because now you’re an expert! Congratulations! You took classes. You know more than you did before. You’re capable of seeing a higher level of insight, so you naturally set a higher standard for others. You love the fine details, you want to hang out there, you want to see all the complexities, and if you don’t, you feel disappointed, because you’ve been cursed, and viewing something simple feels like “dumbing down”. How insulting! What a waste of time!

I guess I can be strong and say to myself, “It doesn’t matter what others think,” but hard as I try, I am still human. Your actions influence me. I can feel it when you look away. I can feel it when you yell out corrections because I’m not doing it “right”. I can feel it because all of the sudden, I’m no longer dancing to celebrate the joy that I feel in the music, instead, I’m dancing simply to try and impress you. FUCK THAT.

I understand. People naturally want to appear talented and confident in the eyes of others…. so of course they’re going to focus on style and technique. After all, that’s what people respond to! Sure, all these things makes a better dancer, but all the style in the world is useless if we’ve lost the essence. So this begs the question, what is the essence? For me, it is the diverse union of like-minded individuals brought together through freedom, self-expression, and love of music. That was just an extremely wordy way of saying that dance should be FUN.

Isn’t it enough just to be able to enjoy the music… together? 

I’m writing this because I recently met a kid named Alvin. He was obviously new to dance, his movements could be cleaner, but something drew me to him. He had the spirit of dance. He was having fun. I was fascinated, yet saddened by the fact that I may never have that again.

Proceed with Caution.

by Jason Lam