Stephen King, Bob Marley, Wassily Kandinsky, Jimi Hendrix, J.K. Rowling, Amanda Gorman, Jim Carey, Martin Luther King Jr. and Emily Carr: an assorted list of seemingly random people throughout history who have one major thing in common — their passion for their art and life.   

This is just a small list of people throughout the world who have made an impact by having a passion for life, a passion for change, a passion for creating something beautiful and/or worthwhile for others to enjoy.   

From performing to writing to music to world change and beyond, these people were passionate. They loved what they did, and it showed.   

I think of these people, and I learn about other passionate people from history, and I cannot help but think, “Where did our passion go?”  

Where did we go wrong?  

It seems that somewhere along the way, we have become less about passion and more about checking off boxes.   

High schoolers are now trying to have college-like resumes, and they are not developing the foundational skills like they should be or enjoying their last childhood years. College-age students are torn between the degree people push and the trade they love, and when they go to college, they are more focused on the letter grades than developing the career skill. And adults? Well, they are just numbly doing the 9-5, trying to survive.   

Add in the pressure for marriage, babies, promotions, house-buying (and whatever else to that list), and we have become burnt-out humans living to survive instead of living life to its fullest.   

We have lost our zest, our meaning, and I know I have said the word a million times, but our passion for living while doing something we love.   

How did we get here? How did we allow ourselves to become these robots of survival? How can we change it and became passionate humans again?   

And before you come at me screaming about how life has always been about survival, I know. Trust me, I know it has been, but at least before, there was some kind of love about living. Now we only have passion about checking off the boxes we think will make us successful, and in reality, those are just unrealistic stress inducers.   

I wish I knew how things evolved to what they are now. I wish I knew the answer to help bring the enthusiasm back to people’s lives. I wish we did not feel like we had to fit in a box that society tells us to squeeze into. Oh, how I wish I knew.    

While I don’t know the answers, I do dream. I dream of a time where we can be free to live life with zest and excitement. I dream of a time where people are free to be themselves without judgment and hate and checkboxes.  

I dream we can get one day get our passion back.

Have a comment on something in The Parthenon? Respond with a letter to the editor at [email protected].