So what's your passion?

Source: Palomar

We're searching, searching. Every single nook, turning every single stone. It's not too bad, for we have company. There's like a zillion people searching with us. Every single nook, turning every single stone.

Tick tock tick tock.

A few of them have found theirs. We rejoice and pat their backs. Good for them, them lucky chaps. But it's not too bad. We’re not alone. There are plenty others still searching. High and low. Every single nook, turning every single stone.

Tick tock tick tock.                                                                                                                   

Half the crowd has left by now. But the other half is searching with us. So it’s okay, right? We're still trying. Or are we really? Perhaps we are looking in the wrong places altogether. Maybe we’re overlooking something. Or maybe we are blinded by some force and we just don't realize it.

Tick tock tick tock.

Time's running out and we're frantic. Panic wells up inside us. The others could unearth theirs, then why couldn’t we? Will we have nothing to pursue in our coming days? No. We’re probably just bad at searching. Unless...what we're looking for does not exist at all.

No. That's impossible. Mom and dad always told us that we're special. In fact, every child was. It's just that we needed to figure out how. And we trusted them. Could it have been just another lie like Santa Clause?

Tick tock tick tock.

We're almost there. The junction where the pathway branches out. And we’re empty handed. That's the thing about time isn't it, that it goes on no matter what your progress – a giant leap or none at all. Now we're at the point of transition, standing before a sea of disheartening faces of the society eager to know our 'plan'.

Tick.

"So, what's your passion?" 

This was it. If only we’d gotten a little more time.

We respond with a perplexed expression as if the word passion were foreign to us, as if we hadn't spent what seemed like a lifetime searching for the same in vain.

Every single nook, turning every single stone. How could we explain all of this to them?

"Uhm...haven't figured it out yet." We stutter, unsure of how much to spill.

We wonder, what had been theirs, if they had any at all? Ahh, to hell with this passion. We're happy without it now, aren't we? Let time take its course and we'll see what happens. Because that's the thing about time, it goes on whether you have a passion or not.

Tick tock tick tock.

Life has resumed. We're in the next stage. But we don't cease to wonder if we must get back into the quest. Maybe we're just one of the masses, a simpleton in a crowd wading through simple daily pleasures and pains. But there it is, that tinge of fear hidden amidst the many ignored inhibitions at the back of our minds - the fear of mediocrity. 

Maybe this thing called passion wasn't for us after all. Did it even matter? Sure, one couldn't deny the beauty of it. Wasn't it the raison d’etre for most, the reason that kept them going? If so, what is it that keeps us going?

Hope, maybe?

Tick tock tick tock.

Yes, time goes on. And consciously or subconsciously, we're probably still searching for it, plastered with the belief that there’s no meaning without it. Passion.

Every single nook, turning every single stone. 

..

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