Passion is Like, Totally in Fashion.

So today in my Public service class we had a speaker come and talk to us. Usually they talk about their lives, how they got involved in public service, and then what they do now.

This woman today was awesome. She was talking about how she went to Harvard, then went to Harvard Med School and only did so because she was pressured by people. She knew she didn't want to be a doctor but everyone around her told her that it was the best thing to do, it would make her the most money, and she was great at math and science so why not.... After she finished her residency she just realized that if she did become a doctor she would be a bad one because it was NOT her passion. She then went to the Kennedy school for Government at Harvard. Hello Ivy League education (and I'd just like to say she came from a low income household, parents were both elementary teachers... pretty great success story... ANYWAY...). So her point was that she had to go through some things she disliked in order to get to a place where she found what she DOES like. And not only does she like what she does, but she is DAMN good at it, and has an extreme passion for it.

Naturally, to those of us who are contemplating our passions and "what we want to do with our lives" this sparked EVERYONE's interest, so the questions began, and here are some kernels and, as my crazy Epic tradition professor would say, some "chicken mcnuggets...(you'd get a kick outta him Mel...)

She suggested that we do the hard work NOW> She said that there is no definite time lapse that will occur before you figure out your talents and passions, but she said it does take work. She kind of ranted about how she feels people rarely reach their potential anymore because our potentials are so high that if we really went for it, we'd have to expend a lot of energy in the process. I can see her point. She said that it takes some trial and error, but a big part of it is being self aware. She suggested journaling for a few minutes every day, jotting down likes, dislikes, good and bad experiences, etc. This seems cheesy, but hey, I might try it. I kind of already do it (tada!!!) so that's neato.

She also said to ask our friends for honest and unbiased opinions about what we're good at. This is something that came up in bible study too as we deal with what the 20's are all about (age wise, not history).

So here we go. I'm asking you.

Here are some... uhh.. parameters?

First...if you're willing to respond, please type your response in an e-mail. I feel like that way people won't just see other people's impressions and write them down too or be influenced by them. Please feel free to comment to anything in the blog or where you're at with all this, but send me an e-mail if you're going to tell me these things:

--what am I good at?
--what do you think I'm passionate about?
--what am I not good at or bad at?
--what kind of job can you see me doing (and this isn't like "business woman"- be specific!!!)

Please DO NOT consider anything I have ever expressed interest in or claimed to want to do- just take your ideas simply from your observations of my abilities and skills.

I know this is a weird one, but she suggested it and I thought hey, I know that everyone who reads my blog slash would comment on this knows me pretty well and that they would probably be willing to help me out and may have valuable insight. So there you go.

Anyway, again, feel free to comment on this blog, but send an e-mail to claire.cain@gmail.com if you want to answer my silly questions!

[and please don't think I'm searching for complements of accolades here. You're telling me the negative stuff too! I gotsta know!!!]