(Aug 24, 2022 ● Oslin Pierrette)
What would I say if I was speaking to a class full of kids or teenagers? I would very enthusiastically tell them to start now. Start taking initiative with their life now, and be very intentional. Avoid being very casual with their childhood, and avoid allowing whatever lands on your lap. Childhood and adolescence is the time to cultivate & ignite your soul, find your passions. It’s basically an exponentially huge head start in life.
Reason I say start now. There’s this complex in society where it’s like you don’t have to start life until after high school and college. So till then, take your time. Like you can start life whenever you’re ready. Promoting this lack of urgency, and being very docile. These sentiments have decapitated and demoralized many. When reality got real for them, they are now in adult life and have to quickly adapt. They wished they had more time so they could develop a way to have a sustainable life. Also wished they had more time to cultivate a life they like and desire. The sad part about that, your ability to ignite and cultivate a soul exponentially decreases, if you start post childhood and adolescence. So being casual with your childhood is a dangerous risky game. High risk of crippling your ability to have a soulful life, also a high risk of despair. Like I’ve seen and felt that feeling from so many of my peers, nearing the end of their college career. What am I gonna do for the rest of my life? Is this the rest of my life? Have I felt the best feelings I’m gonna have? They didn’t invest enough time and energy to cultivate passions and a soul for themselves. They don’t have the ability to create happiness or things they would like or love for themselves. They just played it casual, and allowed whatever the world manufactured for them. Something like high school and college can manufacture a daily purpose for you. But after that, you’re on your own. You now have to find your own purpose. Which is going to be tough when you’re running low on soul.
Hopefully you’re in an environment that is accepting of your passion seeking journey. Accepting to whatever your love and soul gravitates to. It would also be great if you have an environment that encourages you to find love, and could provide you resources to help you get where you want. But going off my peers’ childhood upbringing and stories, that type of situation isn’t the typical one. It’s more of a miraculous dream world. Situations I typically hear are them not having the resources or an accepting environment. One that actually opposes their journey. Also some childhood environments specifically for women, where they’re groomed as a child in hopes to become good wives. Voiding their childhood and a chance at cultivating a soul. Also some environments are tradition heavy. Maybe where your soul is calling, due to your environment’s traditions and values, your environment is opposed to you going there. Which may lead many kids to put a wall up to their soul and block off their passions. Which definitely places you at high risk for a despairing apathetic life, and extreme resentment that you may carry constantly. So for kids that may be in negative environments for cultivating a soul. You have to understand the ability of blocking off your environment, which can be intense. But it’s a fight for your love and passion that is worth it. It’s going to be tough because a kid is typically looking up to the adults in their environment for guidance. Instead they have to grasp the concepts that adults can be wrong. Setting up a wall against their community so they can protect themselves and the ability to love, but where is their support system? So I hope those people have the will power to be alone sometimes on their journey for love, but also the intuitiveness to seek out the right people for their support system. But it is a need to assert yourself and don’t let anybody come in the way of your love, soul, and passion. And it’s an extreme task to ask anybody, especially a young kid, where many are still highly impressionable by their environment. May not have any support system. To have the task of developing themselves, passions, and ability to love. Being aware to that may be dark, alone, and scary, but is a great understanding to have sooner than later.
Now what should you do to find your passions, love, and soul. Allow yourself to just be and do. Allow your personality and interest to be malleable. Experiment and find things. You have to be a seeker, be proactive, and take initiative in creating that for yourself. Connect to the things that stimulate you. Understand if you actually like it. Then when you have actual interests and passions for yourself. Dive deep into those worlds. Consume yourself with whatever lifestyle that is. Become consumed by your interest and passions. Start dreaming about a life and aspirations within your passions. Then start manifesting and creating that now. It doesn’t have to start when you’re an adult. You can develop your dreams now. Especially if you’re in the comfort of your childhood. By the time you’re on your own, hopefully you will already be fully equipped for adulthood with no worries. Also you have this dream you’re aspiring for. Giving you this motivated effort and purposefulness. Develop skills that would make you competent in your passions. Constantly work on your craft. Also constantly research and learn the world of your passions and interests. Be fully invested in your passions, also have multiple passions if you can. Then just fall in love with the process. Growing this diverse expertise.
For example, say you want to be a designer. You should wake up and start drawing. Develop that skill to articulate your feelings and ideas. Also dress yourself as best as you can with the resources available, invest in that. Constantly develop your style. Watch fashion shows. Get inspired constantly. Go learn designers and creators upbringing and how they got started and built what they did. If you can get a sewing machine, also resources for graphic design. Constantly create everything you can. In constantly creating, you’ll probably be surprised by all the things you create. Expand the techniques you use for creation. Expand how you perceive and and your understanding of your art forms. You keep doing that, you can become professionally skilled faster than you think.
Another example, say you want to create films. You should constantly be watching films. All types of movies. Write reviews or express what you just watched to help you compartmentalize, and articulate your understanding of what films are. Then just study how you make films. Maybe with the resources you have available. Constantly make short movies for fun. Develop your storytelling and directorial skills. Constantly create and write screenplays. Have fun with it, and get experimental sometimes. Create many interesting characters. Create engaging stories. Read as many screenplays of the movies you liked, to see how it was constructed. Basically be a menace about your craft. I know it seems like a lot, but it is a very rewarding lifestyle, to be consumed by your passions and loves.
Now that you have a great understanding of your passions. You cultivated a love life for yourself, a mini desirable community. Go venture and find people that are of your community. People with similar passions and aspirations. Make meaningful connections. Seeking relationships that are foundationed in similar passions and love, are probably the most meaningful, satisfying, and stimulating bonds. The more the merrier. Now you have a team. You guys can come create and develop together. Being organized and blueprinting goals and worlds you guys want to create. Putting your heads and all your resources together. There’s an exponential strength in numbers. You can accomplish anything with the proper discipline. The discipline to constantly create and develop skill. Also, if you can move like a sibling-hood. Trust each other like family. Your resources are my resources. If someone is down in some place, we work to get up together. That trust and mindset is going to help everyone fully invest what they have to get the best outcome. Also say you’re like in school. You could enlighten and encourage someone to join the lifestyle. Putting them onto what could become of themselves. Enlighten them by making them more aware of their feelings and passion. Encouraging them to dive deep and constantly develop their skills. Make it a growing movement. There really hasn’t been any recent pro passion, love, and happiness communities. So it would be monumental to make it a movement.
Also understanding where you want to be, reach out to people who are accomplished and are in those spaces you want to be. Ask them for guidance on how to achieve what you want to achieve. Maybe you can shadow them and watch how to operate in those spaces. Find out if there’s any programs to join. Just engrain yourself in those spaces. Talk in those social communities. Goto events that occupy the space and fields you want to be in. Just start meeting a lot of people that are in those spaces. Also document your journey, especially if you have a team. Share the journey, put your portfolio, work, and content out there. It might come across someone prominent in your field, that might reach out.
Other things you should do is develop other skills outside your passions. Like learning the world of architecture. Becoming an architect for one can give you fundamental skills to create many things. Learn how to draw. Learn to play instruments and utilize music software. Learn how to paint and develop a good use of colors. Learn how to code or 3D design. I feel everyone should be a writer. Everyone has something to say. So it’s best to compartmentalize that and express it through writing. You can discover the person you are through that. Then constantly writing to express whatever you’re feeling is an amazing tool. People should obtain and develop all these skills, mainly because you never know what passions you could fall in love with. You’re an ever expanding soul. So when you come across a new passion, you’re well equipped for whatever comes to you.
Utilize your childhood and start now. When you’re young, you have high plasticity levels. So it takes less active effort to learn something, it comes more naturally young. So do as much as you can. I know it sounds like a lot. But in many years when you’re a kid. This could get done, and there can be time to relax and leisure. You may start actually working or monetizing your work before you even turn 18 if you’re lucky. You can have a headstart and be established early. By the time you’re a young adult, you can be competent enough and have tools to build or already in the process of building the life you want to live.
This is what I would say because this is exactly what I would’ve loved to have heard. I just didn’t know. I was too casual with my childhood. When I could’ve been actively loving my passions, and developing my skills in them. Could’ve been competent enough for the life I wanted to live early. If I could change anything, it would be that. I’m lucky I didn’t figure it out too late, but I could’ve been exponentially better if I started earlier. So start now.