Excelle

I HATE this question. People keep asking me "What's your passion?" and to be honest, I don't have one. I don't have a passion/calling/destiny/wahtever fluffy, pseudopsychological label you want to use. When asked "what do you really want to do/what would you do for free, " I have nothing.  Personally, I think the whole movement is a bit sketchy anyway. We can't all surive by decorating cupcake and making handbags! You really think that garbage collectors and people like that really think as kids "Wow! I'd love to pick up other people's garbage since it'smy PASSION"? I think not!

What's wrong with justy wanting something that pays and that will do for now without attaching some fake spiritual meaning to it? In my situation (recent grad with little experience), I don't think I can afford to be picky and say, "Oh, all these other jobs are so BENEATH me because they aren't my PASSION and I somehow DESERVE to only care about this narrow scope of jobs because I have a PASSION". Rubbish.

I hear what you're saying. Not everyone can have a job they are super passionate about. And there does seem to be a lot of pressure nowadays to do something you absolutely love, when so many people don't really have that luxury.

That said, I do think that a lot of job satisfaction comes from being really good at what you do -- whether that's cake decorating or garbage collecting. I personally have found that I'm happiest in my job when I'm good at it. Sometimes being good at something comes from being passionate about it. Sometimes it doesn't.

If you enjoy going to work most days (even if you don't enjoy every aspect of your job), you're lucky.

Also, I think that while some people might be most passionate about their jobs, other people are passionate about other things in their lives (and less so about their jobs).

I don't know what stage you're at in your career, but sometimes you stumble upon your passion when you're not really looking for it, and by exploring different types of jobs.

The point is this: you may find your passion, you may not. What matters more is your overall happiness, whether it's derived from work, hobbies, relationships, the degree to which your job allows you to enjoy your time away from work, or a combination of these things.

I'm not being asked this in an interview, this is from well-meaning people who are trying to give what they think is good advice (when it isn't)

I'm unemployed and in debt, so I think I'd place money over any sort of imagined "passion" that exists. Sure, it'd be great to have a super nice, really awesome job, but at the same time, I'm realistic. EVERY job, even ones people claim they "love" and "are SO passionate" about, have bad days. Every job has bits that are annoying and a drag, so in reality, there's no such thing as a perfect job. I'm just wondering if it's so bad for me to say, "you know what? no matter what I'd do, I'd have bad days and such, so I'm not going to bother wasting my time trying to find somethign that does not exist"?

 Some people live to work, but you don't  have to be one of those people. When interviewers are asking that, I think they're trying to get a read on what type of person you are, so divorce the question from the need for a job. Tell them what you're into that's NOT work or money related (within reason, lol).

ttafesse says ...

I think we have a passion inside that we don't know. Passion is related to our life purpose. It doesn't necessary mean within work or money related areas. As said, we necessary don't need to worry about what jobs are we passionate about as long as it beings a good income.However,if we just DON"T like what we r doing,we better try our best to switch jobs to discover what we really r into. The advantage? Being able to wake up excited each morning to go to work ,exprience a joy and satisfaction during and after work..... Bad days are what we make them so. Its a whole different topic. Life is composed of 'good and bad' stuffs.We can't avoid it nomatter what we r into; and we have the power to exprience it in a positive way..... For some lucky people they find a work/career that they are passionate about.Even some change a career from a doctor to a musicians from nurse to teacher, from lawer to artist not for the sake of money but for .......So still,we can find what we are passionate about in general life. If you, for example, love to eat then you possibly love to cook:),if u love to meet people around the world, then you might love to make a speech or some leadership activities...,then that could be ur passion means you bring something good to the world.

But surely, not every job can bring constant joy. And the idea that you can change the world bothers me, because I feel like having that mindset is a setup for failure, since you can't save every lost puppy or sick child--those losses are what stand out and stay with you. I'm just asking what is so wrong with having an OK job. 

It is totally ok to have an ok job - especially if it pays the bills and allows you to do things that your, sorry for the pun, passionate about.

I absolutely agree with you, that these well-meaning people giving advice about finding a job that you are passionate about, is just "rubbish." If everyone in the whole world would only settle for jobs that they are passionate about, jobs that they love, then who would pick up our garbage? Who would wait on us at restaurants? Who would do all these little, crappy jobs that probably suck?

We all cannot be millionaires; we all cannot be white collar; blue collar workers make the world go around; in fact, society has it completely backwards - Why should someone who plays a game for a living or paints or sings songs make more money than, say, a EMT, or a plumber, or a postal worker? Which of those jobs could we be without? Which ones are really more important to the big picture?

Think about that! You have my permission to use this answer word for word for the next person who asks you what your passion is!