- EMILE
Passion. Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion. Follow your passion. Do what you love. The wisdom of old has spurred on this timeless belief, deeply entrenching it as a universal truth as it is passed down through generations. Just like God’s existence has no hard science to it, so does this age-old counsel. It has been bandied about as a sure ingredient to success. High standing personalities the world over swear by the magic of passion, and even tout it as the gateway to one’s life’s calling. Oprah has ceaselessly evangelized, ‘Follow your passion. It will lead you to your purpose.’
Those who take this counsel as gospel truth post results that are interestingly at a great variance. Some reach their targeted pinnacles of success, while others only find despair as they stay true and steadfast to their chosen passions. Some quickly gain traction, while others only find success after they are long gone from the realms of the earth.
Living as a pauper with severe psychotic episodes, Vincent Van Gogh only ever sold one of his paintings during his lifetime for a pityingly measly sum. Exactly 100 years after he died by his own hand in the confines of a French asylum, one of his paintings – Portrait du Dr. Gachet – fetched a staggering $82.5 million at an auction. Van Gogh paintings are amongst the rarest and most valuable in the world today, running into millions and millions of dollars.
For those who are inclined to tread the more pragmatic route, passion is really a non-consideration. It is a luxury that only a select few can afford its indulgence. And even if they can afford it, they are usually persuaded to follow more conventional career paths to ‘make something of themselves.’ Yet again in this lot, some prosper, and others do not.
The conflicting results can be attributed to the very individual interpretations of the fluid concepts of passion and love. Because what really is passion? And what really is love? Aren’t they in the eyes of the beholder?
The demands and pressures of the modern world have reduced the passion element to an arguable topic. Financial success is the primary and all-important yardstick of measuring individual effort. The creation of masterpieces and the issue of personal fulfillment – usually the results of intense passion – are often secondary considerations. Only worthy of mention if the commercial outcomes are notable. Many a gifted, starving soul – often an object of societal scorn – has been forced to abandon their passions in search of a decent living wage. An attempt to pursue both hardly produces Picasso-level results, as one pursuit ultimately suffers due to neglect.
Emile, a young business leader in Corporate Africa, believes the whole idea of passion is quite absurd. A cautionary tale. He urges with a bold intensity, ‘Ignore passion! Focus your efforts on activities that give you more energy and excite your curiosity. Find the combination of talents that will make you a force to be reckoned with.’
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Excerpt From Emile’s Story: ‘PILLARS OF AFRICA: They Dared To Dream’ – Compiled & Written by Sheida
