Life is full of things to be passionate about. One can be passionate about a variety of things, while others may lack passion in their lives or even not know what passion is. To be quite honest, I wasn’t sure what passion was myself, until I found mine. So what is passion? Passion is something that drives your existence, something that makes you happy, but above all, something that gives you a purpose to be yourself and enjoy your life. It’s hard to find a passion, for how can a single thing hold so much meaning in one’s life? Passion is different for all of us yet holds the same importance. I love helping people. I love coffee. I love chocolate and I love my job, but I am passionate about finding love in everything.

Growing up, I dreamed of the day my prince charming would come and sweep me off my feet, fulfilling my fairy-tale ending. When I began to witness my friends struggle with love and relationships, I quickly found that both are not as sweet and romantic as the fairy tales portray them to be. It is called “falling” in love for a reason, for many, falling isn’t just a metaphorical fall. Love knocks you off your feet, and not always in the best of ways. After continually witnessing rejection, heartbreak, and other negative side-effects that accompany love, I began not to believe in the feeling. I began to despise it. I walked around the world believing that love is imaginary, this time the gloomiest of my 18 years. I didn’t come to discover my passion for love by falling madly in love with the man of my dreams. That hasn’t happened (yet). Instead, I developed a passion for love when I looked around me and saw the love in life already present. I opened my eyes to different kinds of love: love from my friends, love from my family, as well as love from the world around me. Love is my passion not just because of the pleasant feeling, but also because I can share it with others. Love gives my life meaning and makes the rough days bearable. Everyone will fall in love with something, whether it’s a hobby, a person, a cause; and that is what is so beautiful about it. My Journey of Transformation professor once said in class that we should “seek the things money can’t buy before we look to things easily bought”. Love cannot be bought with any amount of money and cannot be unfairly obtained. Love is natural, pure and innocent. Love is beauty. Love is an escape from the corrupt world we live in, from the daily struggles of a teenager, but above all, from oneself.

You may believe you do not have love in your life, but you do. While you may not have fallen in love with a person just yet, we all have fallen in love with something. Whether that something is an idea, a cause, a book, or even a recipe: it is love. Anything that consumes your thoughts and brings pleasure in a time where darkness encompasses your being is love. If you still believe you haven’t found it, open your eyes, open your mind and open your heart. When you do, you just might find your passion.