By Sofia Pan, G8
Have you ever fallen in love with doing something? It can be dancing, singing, playing chess,
or even listening to podcasts. You might think the reason that you’re so into doing the activity
is that you have the genes or because the activity has some magic acting over you, but
actually, it’s passion.
Passion is defined as a strong inclination towards a self-defining activity that people love,
consider important, and devote significant amounts of time and energy to. Rather than
something pre-existing, passion is cultivated through action, exploration, and sustained
effort. Growing from a spark of curiosity, it becomes a core part of one’s identity via
consistent, joyful engagement and a sense of personal purpose.
However, passions are not all beneficial. They can be classified into two types—harmonious
passion and obsessive passion. Harmonious passion is freely chosen for the pleasure that
comes from the activity, ultimately integrating into the authentic self. Conversely, obsessive
passion entails becoming obsessed with or relentlessly pursuing that which one is
passionate about. With obsessive passion, the activity overpowers the person, and a sense
of self-control is lost. This results in harm, feelings of guilt, shame, or burnout. To illustrate,
consider a gamer whose passion has become obsessive: he feels a compulsive,
uncontrollable urge to play, leading him to engage in high-stakes gaming even when they
are severely sleep-deprived or missing work.
So how do we prevent developing an obsessive passion? The answer is
simple—self-compassion. Do not judge yourself against others and focus on the process
over outcomes. Judge yourself against prior versions of yourself and the effort you are
exerting in the present moment. Another thing you can do is to practice the 24-hour rule.
Having achieved something big or failed at something tough, give yourself 24 hours to
celebrate the success or grieve the defeat, but then get back to work. Doing the work has a
special way of putting both success and failure in their respective places.
Understanding the science behind passion does not destroy its magic. Just as Disneyland
relies on precise calculations to create wonder, the truth behind passion does not make it
less meaningful. Science is not cold, emotionless—it’s a medium that carries the legacy of
human emotions and spreads joy to people around the world.
