On Passion and Puppets

Me: "Wow haggard!"

Colleague: "Syempre, passionate eh. San ka ba nakakita ng passionate na maaliwalas ang mukha?"

I was stunned. It sounded so wrong in different ways.

I'm thinking maybe it was because of a work culture that never fails to overwhelm even after decades: deadlines, output, avalanche of quality issues, 'people' issues, doing more for less, making less grow more - and the fact that work can just swallow down your whole life


While I do admire intensity and drive, I think it's sad when "passion" is equated to haggard faces, toxic lifestyle, and anxiety overload. The best lesson I learned from Steve Job's biography is that passion is the tune of your heart singing. It comes from doing something you love. And when there is love you 'glow'. You motivate yourself not just out of necessity but because of your inner drive to get something done. You do not live like a puppet getting carried away by a whirlwind.





But then again, people have their own ways of getting things done. Organizations need to survive, and the industry is incredibly competitive as it is. One thing is to love your what you do with all your heart, or, as a famous quote says "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen". For those who can relate, let these things not keep us from remembering the "core" of who we are. The things that make us giggle deep inside, the things that make our heart smile, the things that truly drive us and the things that we really are passionate about. No one can, and should, take those things away from us. :)

Now that's a thought to keep as Sunday closes and another manic Monday begins. To all yuppies of the corporate world, let's do this!! \m/