Help! I don't have a passion!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Btw, READING IS a passion...find a non-annoying book club and see if it fits.

Well, it certainly can be... it is for me, but I know plenty of people who read and would say they like to read, but that it isn't anywhere close to being a passion for them.

[Anonymous]

Reading is a passion for me, but I can't find anyone here who feels the same way.

[Anonymous]

There are non-annoying book clubs?

[Anonymous]

I feel the same as you OP and I get quite anxious about it too. I feel like I am boring or an airhead. Also I am about to quit work to SAH and I want to start a business. My husband and every one says it should be in something I am passionate about. I don't feel that there is anything - except shopping of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

zumbamama wrote:It's never to late too find your passion. Maybe you have an interest that you just haven't explored yet. What did you enjoy doing when you were a kid? Or what is your idea of fun? When you read, what do you like to read about?

My problem is that I'll be interested in something for a few months and then move on. Past hobbies include language learning, web design, knitting, sewing, jewelry making, painting (things, not pictures), and so on.

The good thing is that when I'm interested in something, I'm consumed by it and will do everything I can to learn about it. The bad thing is nothing seems to interest me for more than a few months.

Sometimes, someone has too many talents and can't stick to one or two things. My sister and a good friend are in this category.

OP if you didn't have to work (assuming you have a job) what would do even if you weren't paid. That is your passion.

[Anonymous]

OP I got into gardening and - bee keeping! I took time off work today to go to the home of an old, disabled bee keeper and help him maintain his hives. I met other bee keepers who were also there to help. It was so great.

Maybe you can combine something you love with volunteering. If you like gardening, you can work with the extension service on a public garden.

Sign up for a class at the local community college. Go through the catalog and find something that sounds interesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There are non-annoying book clubs?

I'm in two non-annoying book clubs. Not sure what you mean, but I very much look forward to the meetings. It's great for discussion and just plain socializing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are non-annoying book clubs?

I'm in two non-annoying book clubs. Not sure what you mean, but I very much look forward to the meetings. It's great for discussion and just plain socializing.

If you are passionate about literature, being in a book club with people who are there mostly to socialize can be very annoying. (And, you might be annoying to your less passionate fellow book clubbers.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[OP if you didn't have to work (assuming you have a job) what would do even if you weren't paid. That is your passion.

While the "find your passion" thing is becoming a little too trendy and trivializing, and I tend to agree with the PP who commented that a passion isn't something you just "discover" in a magical thinking way, I do think it can be liberating to think about what you'd do if you didn't have to get paid to do it and, perhaps more important, what you'd do if you weren't afraid of failing. This ties in with the earlier PP's comment that you need to try different things and put in the time and sweat equity to figure out what floats your boat. You can't just expect a passion to pop into your head fully-developed. Think of this as a journey, not an epiphany.

[Anonymous]

OP here.

The suggestions here have been very helpful and have pushed me toward action.

I created a list of hobbies I had in the past and things I want to try. I've narrowed the list down to the four things that interest me most, mainly things I've been interested in since I was a kid. I think it's true that your passion is more likely to be something that has always interested you rather than something that just strikes you out of the blue. I think my flighty nature in regards to hobbies has prevented me from exploring any one thing in depth. Over the next few years, I plan to read about, learn about, and practice these hobbies. I'll take classes, read books, volunteer, etcetera.

Thanks, ladies! I'm feeling better about my passionless self!

[Anonymous]

I feel the exact same way - that I have no one real passion. But I think a passion is something that is supposed to make you feel happy, not something to stress over in addition to everything else we stress about in our lives. If I made a list of hobbies that I felt I had to pursue, it would stress me out. I take pleasure in activities like gardening, cooking, long phone calls with friends or with my brother, and a good book. The rest of the time, my "passion" is trying (like we all do) to raise great happy well adjusted kids. I'm sure that I should cultivate a particular hobby or passion, but I can't imagine having much time to devote to it now, so perhaps it's just as good that I not discover it at this very moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel the same as you OP and I get quite anxious about it too. I feel like I am boring or an airhead. Also I am about to quit work to SAH and I want to start a business. My husband and every one says it should be in something I am passionate about. I don't feel that there is anything - except shopping of course.

You are my twin!! I cannot tell you how often I have thought about opening a retail store, but then I realized I would actually have to sell the things I bought for it! To the OP's question: I have been rediscovering things from childhood - singing and dancing. I actually signed up for a one-week singing course for adults this summer. I'm a little nervous about it because I feel like most people are much better than me, but then another side of me says that if I made it into the toughest audtion-only choir in high school, I must have a little talent, even if it is only a crumb! Of course, with my luck, everyone in the class will have profesisonal voice training - sigh. There is no real point t this - I sing in the car and in the shower and in church (not in the choir), and I do my own weird combo of hip hop and ballet (took ballet from ages 3 to 12, but have no clue about hip hop) for exercise at home. My audience is my dog, but I am having fun.