I have heard that there is much satisfaction in doing what you love.
I used to frequent a quaint cafe in the winter. The owner kept it open as long as I was there; she didn’t seem in a hurry to close. She would keep her cafe open hours after closing, to allow her guests to finish chatting and eating meals she so lovingly prepared. I was one of those guests and I was in awe of her spirit. She was filled with so much joy, smiling when she cleaned the oven, and singing to herself when she swept the kitchen floor. This contentment comes with doing what you love. I’m very grateful to have discovered my passion for design. Yet, in finding my own contentment, what matters more is what I do with that knowledge.
One of the most ‘short-changing’ acts one can do is ignore their own passion. I was almost guilty of this myself. During college applications, I was rushing to blindly select a major that would lead me to a “guaranteed” paycheck. I bought into the notion that more money meant fulfillment. Even though I held a strong interest in design, I chose Business Management as my major. I was told it was a certainty that business majors would get a job after graduation and that’s all I wanted – certainty. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that my line of thinking changed its course. I met a friend for lunch and asked why she’d selected Economics as her major. To my surprise, she replied: “I have no idea, I hate it. I’m only in it for the money”. That sounded so miserable to me, yet that was exactly what I was doing. I spent two years of college taking Accounting and Microeconomics, only to be confronted with the same reality? that I knew in high school: I love to design. I have a responsibility to myself to at least try for the satisfaction in doing what I love. Without the satisfaction of working in a field that I enjoy, I am only contributing as much as the paycheck is worth. Seeking and nurturing my passion is now paramount. I have abandoned the idea of relinquishing myself of my interests completely.
Since my lunch with my classmate, I have changed majors and am now double majoring in English and Art. I design in my free time and am currently interning as a designer. My friend, Gayle, is taking a similar route. She has spent her life working in corporations for a paycheck to survive as a single mother, and in her free time she completes her dream of being a writer. She writes blog articles, television scripts, and screenplays. She keeps her dream alive in her free time. There is no guarantee that neither her dream nor mine will be realized, but there is the small possibility we will achieve the happiness of the small cafe owner.
By Symone Fogg
Intern Summer 2015
