Steven Tomlinson conclusions in his TEDx talk uncannily mirrored my thoughts as I got older and a little wiser.
Don't discard your passions; find a way to keep them in the mix.
On the advice of a very wise mentor, the professor didn't pick one of his three passions and drag himself through life with parts of himself missing; instead, he let these passions talk to each other, mingle, and create something in his life that was more significant, more unique than any one of them could have produced on their own.
Condensing the lesson from the TEDx talk, I started to use all of the things that I loved, that interested me, that resonated deeply with me, and while giving it time to percolate, I allowed my passions to create a unique combination that is more than the sum of its parts.
I would never have imagined that I could use all the different aspects of myself in something that gave me joy, yet here I am as a Speculative Fiction author and experiencing what I thought was impossible.
I wondered what I'd be like in quiet moments if I hadn't kept pursuing all of the various things that I felt passionate about. I can guess, and it's not pretty. I'd be anxious, cynical and frustrated. I'd feel that I was owed a better life but blamed everyone and everything instead of taking responsibility.
So here it is, Gentle Reader, the thing that saved me from that nightmare scenario. First, use all parts of yourself, all the passions that light🔆you up. Never discard them but give the process all the time it needs to find connections. Let them all intermingle to produce something unique. Something that is well and truly you.
And then watch how your life will begin to take on new meaning even with the inevitable challenges and that, my friends is one of the paths to being happy and truly successful.
