The other night I listened to Larry Smith's TED talk, Why you will fail to have a great career.
I rather enjoyed it. Larry talked about the key ingredient to having a great career which is no surprise- passion. He talked about people making excuses not to look for their passion;
"Great careers are for people who are lucky, special, geniuses...
I would do this but, I am not weird. I am nice, normal and nice normal people don't have passion."
He talked about people who hide behind excuses. Even when they find their passion, they still don't go after it:
"I would pursue a great career but I value human relationships more than careers- I want to be a great friend, spouse, parent."
I thought about the passion we talk about in connection to unschooling. Does everyone who unschools have a passion? I don't know.
As to unschooling parents, mums, I have wondered about what happens to our own passions when we unschool.
Do we forget our dreams or does unschooling keep mummy's dream alive?
In my case, I was going to be a famous painter. I studied art. Then I had a baby. I didn't give up; I kept making art. But somewhere along the way, I stopped making art.
It wasn't 'human relations' that stopped me from pursuing my passion. It was simply that I lost interest. I lost the passion for art making. It just--fizzled away. I don't know why.
I found other interests as my daughter grew and I had 2 more babies. Interests you say? Larry answers, interest is not passion. "You come to me and say, "I have an interest.""
Larry responds, "I say, do you have a passion?"
"Passion is your greatest love, passion is the thing that will help you create the highest expression of your talent."
Larry continues, "Are you really going to go to your sweetheart and say, "Marry me. You are interesting." Passion is beyond interest. You need 20 interests and one of them might grab you and that's what passion is."
I found unschooling and I became passionate about that. Unschooling for the next 12 years became my life's interest.
My views on education, learning, child rearing, the world of employment, the way we run this world, the environment all came together with unschooling. My world-view was impacted because of unschooling.
I developed an interest in writing that has evolved into a passion. I can't do as much as I want to (or the kind I want to do) but that doesn't stop me. I am not saying what I am working on right now- that's my secret- but I'll say that my passion for writing has only grown.
I am also not sure if that will get me a 'great career.' Or even a good career. I am sure of my feeling fulfilled in my pursuit of doing what I want to do.
I've never been more certain.
My goal for my children is a great career- I encourage them to follow their passions.
What about you? Has unschooling interfered with your passion or does unschooling support your passion?
Do tell!
