What is my Passion?
Recently, I was asked by my very loved teacher Denise, “Lily what is your passion?” I was brought to a halt. I had no idea what my passion was. Denise then went on to give me an example of her own to help prompt some kind of inspiration. For Denise it is storytelling, it is sharing experiences with others in the hope to reveal a part of them that is longing to be touched, held and healed. It’s through telling stories that Denise is able to connect to the humanness within us, which opens our hearts to our interconnectedness to form an organic and tender-hearted community. Denise’s passion is connection, embedded in the awareness that we stand stronger when hand in hand and heart to heart.
I was humbled by Denise’s passion and inspired to set out and find my very own. Unaware that it wasn’t as out of reach as I first thought. From as young as I can recall, I have questioned and been intrigued by the human experience. I can remember being seven years old and having an overwhelming fear of dying. I would cry in private, and couldn’t understand how the whole world was content to just exist around me without being swallowed by this collective fear of death. After a few more experiences under my belt, I have now come to the realisation that the way humans trust the gift which is our impermanence is through leaning into their passion. It is our passion that provides beauty in our unwritten future, without passion the ecstasy of life is limited. Passion is the zest of our existence. If life was guaranteed there would be no urgency to find our passion. It is the overwhelming doom of death that ignites the flame in the journey to find our passion, and like the yin to the yang without sorrow there is no beauty.
It is through this awareness, that my reason for life, my light within the dark was uncovered.
My passion is about understanding.
When I google the definition of understanding, it reads “To understand is to be sympathetically or knowledgeably aware of the character or nature of something or someone”
But to me, it is much more simple. Understanding, just means listening. Understanding means to observe with your whole body, to watch, to hear, to touch, to smell. Understanding means bring all your attention and focus to simply notice, study and to come towards life with a sense of inquiry. Although understanding is my passion, it is also my practice. True and pure understanding comes without baggage. It is free of judgement and conclusions, it is to commit to not only understanding what something is right now but also to be aware that it is and will be constantly changing. It is this part of understanding that I hope with more life I will be better at.
Although being able to understand others is my passion, to allow for understanding we must first allow for vulnerability. Tender and sensitive vulnerability. Before I can understand someone there is a wholesome moment when people share their authentic and unrefined world with me. They give me insight into their character, and they allow space for us to connect on a much more intense level. It is in this moment that two strangers become allies, and we remember our unbreakable bond created by simply being humans. Vulnerability is the gateway to understanding, it is the structure which peace is built on. My passion starts with us being vulnerable first. Through nurturing vulnerability comes nourishing understanding.
Through this consciousness and trust in vulnerability, myself and my connections are able to move through life with a shared and supportive sense of exploration. Where the true nectar lies is using my understanding of others to help them to understand themselves. My passion is to encourage others to uncover more of themselves, to simultaneously embrace who they are but question who they are, to encompace the dance between acceptance and growth.
Ultimately, the essence of who I am is that I believe (passion or no passion), this life is worth enjoying and to enjoy life means to enjoy who we are. Ultimately our being is an un-promised gift, and like the weather we are constantly changing. My passion is to ignite the flame of internal investigation in the people that I cross paths with. It is my passion to get us out of the shallow end of our lives and dive heart first into the deep end.
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