UPDATE: Here’s a photo (I found on Tumblr) to prompt us on this topic/life lesson, haha!

(Source)

For this week’s lectorial, we discussed the concept of passion versus your work ethics/discipline. I’ve always been exposed to idea of following something you are “passionate” about, so it was interesting to hear how one should build up a particular skill and THEN develop/build up the passion for that once you have mastered that skill. In my linear way of thinking, I always believed it was the opposite – the teachings, media and education I was exposed to emphasised on the impression of being passionate and then eventually building up your skill to follow that dream.

The reading delved onto the craftsman mindset, arguing that this approach is the foundation for creating your, well, craft. This was truly an inspirational read but I believe that it’s not a mindset that one can easily convert to – as someone who lacks discipline, it’s difficult putting in long and deep hours of work into something that I may have a mediocre interest in (of course, eventually becoming passionate for it). I’m in too deep with the passion mindset –I always feel the need to be extremely passionate about my work in order to create it. However, I definitely see the cons of this thinking, especially when entering the corporate/working world. As mentioned in the reading, our society was built on pragmatism, rather than dealing with your craft/passion in an idealistic approach.

Later on, I also decided to spark a discussion about this topic among my family friend and cousin (one of my very close friends, in fact) and I attempted to explain to them this very concept. I have to admit, I struggled quite a bit when it came to describing the craftsman mindset but eventually they got my drift. My friend, Mary, described that she was in this position before – she had a particularly strong affection towards make-up and the kind of art it could produce. I consider her to be a self-taught make-up extraordinaire, however, she stuck with the passionate path and did not pursue the make-up industry and its difficulties, seeming as it is a competitive industry. Basing it on this example, I can see through the eyes of Newport’s theory and how one must be 100% committed in order to keep up with your field of passion/craft. I feel refreshed hearing different stories and examples from today’s lesson – I definitely see the other side of the story, in comparison to before.

(Left to right: Mary, myself and my cousin)

Best,

Lyreca 🌈