The Stories That Need to be Shared

This October, I was having a conversation with the most passionate person I have ever met. His name is Jacob Hellevik, and if you know him at all - you know that his passion is tuba. I sat there, listening to him talk about his dreams, and ramble on and on about some member of the Minnesota Orchestra that I’d never heard of, but he spoke about him as though he was an A-list celebrity. Listening to him that night, I began to feel absolutely passionless. He spoke with such passion, and I felt like I didn’t have anything that gave me that sort of spark. Jacob told me, "your passion was something that seems normal for you to do all the time, but in reality, no one else does it." He asked me what my passion was... and I didn’t have an answer. I don't know why that made me so distraught, but it did. That night I went home and began writing furiously in my journal. That’s when it hit me. My passion is words; which explains why I never shut up, why I have piles of filled-up journals in my closet, and why I feel the need to write when I’m stressed (like I was that night...)

This photo tells such a story- definitely more than 1,000 words long

After determining my passion, it was a piece of cake to determine my philosophy, because really, your passion and your philosophy are closely related. Your passion is what you love to do, what you never stop talking about, and what drives your life. I picture philosophy like a GPS, kindly reinforcing in that auto- tuned voice, where it is you are going, and how to get there.

I believe everyone has a story. And, I believe everyone’s story deserves to be shared. This is my philosophy. This is why I love talking so much - and writing, and photography. This is why I want to major in photojournalism and international relations. My biggest inspiration is Brandon from Humans of New York; he has the rare ability to get absolute strangers to open up to him. I aim to do that someday. I came upon his work one day, on Facebook actually, and saw a stunning portrait of a man from Nigeria. He was homeless but in his country, was a well-respected professor. It struck me. After perusing his photos for hours, I realized what I want to do with my life.

I want to share everyone’s stories.  Only then, will we have world peace, as these stories lead to connections, and connections lead to understanding. I think that this is the way that peace will truly be achieved, because if I go to Africa and work in the Peace Corps, that is something that not everyone can do. But, if I go to Africa and work in the Peace Corps and share all of the stories of the people I meet, not only will others be encouraged to help them, but they will begin to think of them as real people - people just like us - that need help. I want to go to the Middle East and take pictures of teens just like me, and share their stories and help Americans not to think of Middle Easterners as terrorists.

I realize I currently lack the funds to fuel my passion. Travel and photography are not exactly cheap hobbies, especially when I spend half my income on Starbucks. So until I become a trophy wife, I follow my philosophy by taking an active interest in the stories of people I meet at school, at Costa’s or in my family. I write them down and who knows- maybe I’ll do something with them someday.

I encourage you to start thinking of others as people with stories, with meaning. Not only will you find yourself respecting others more, you will learn to reserve judgement. Never will the whole world speak the same written language. Never will our cultures be the same. And that’s a good thing. Because we all speak the same languages of love, laughter, tears, and smiles. And those are the stories that need to be shared. 

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What is your passion, and how did you discover it? I'd love to know in the comments below.